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presented  to 
of  tbe 

iriniverett?  of  C;oronto 

bv? 

mx5.  Timallace  IResbitt 

trom  tbc  law  library? 

ot  tbe 

H^ononrable  lUlallace  IResbitt,  Ifv.C., 

Crcasurer  of  tbe  Xaw  Socictv? 

of  llppcr  Cana^a 


fi/^ 


THE    WORKS 


OP 


FRANCIS    BACON 


THE 


WORKS 


OF 


FRANCIS    BACON 

BARON  OF  VERULAM,  VISCOUNT  ST.  ALBANS,  AND 
LORD  HIGH  CHANCELLOR  OF  ENGLAND. 


^olUcteH  anti  HDiteH 


JAMES     SPEDDING,   M.  A. 

OF   TRINITY   COLLEGE,    CAMBRIDGE; 

ROBERT    LESLIE     ELLIS,  M.A. 

LATE   FELLOW   OP   TRINITY   COLLEGE,    CAMBRIDGE: 


DOUGLAS    DENON    HEATH, 

BARRISTER- AT-LAW ;    LATE  FELLOW  OF  TRINITY    COLLEGE,   CAMBRIDGE 


VOLUME   XII. 


VOL.  11.  OF  THE  LITERARY  AND  PROFESSIONAL  WORKS. 


BOSTON: 
PUBLISHED    BY    BROWN    \J^m^-JA  r^G  ^  RIL 


M  DCCC  LX. 


M!CROFORi'*^ED  BY 

PRL-SERVATSON 

StRViCES 

DATE  .^^G-8  1989 


RIVERSIDE,    CAMBRIDGE: 

STEREOTYPED    AND    PRINTED    BY 

H.  0.  HOUGHTON. 


CONTENTS 


OF 


THE  TWELFTH  VOLUME. 


LITERARY  WORKS  — continued. 

PAGE 

In  Henricum  Principem  Walli^  Elogium  ...      9 
The  same  translated  into  English         .        .        .        .        19 

Imago  Civilis  Julii  C^esaris 27 

The  same  translated  into  English         ....        35 

Imago  Civilis  Augusti  C^saris 33 

The  same  translated  into  English         ....        43 

Additions  and   Corrections  inserted  by  Bacon  in 
A  Manuscript  Copy  of  Camden's  Annales      .        .    45 

Essays  or  Counsels  Civil  and  Moral     .        .        .        67 

Preface 69 

/gf  Truth 81 

^f  Death 84 

Of  Unity  in  Religion 86 

Of  Revenge 92 

Of  Adversity 93 

Of  Simulation  and  Dissimulation         .         .         .     '   .     95 

Of  Parents  and  Children 99 

(TJf  Marriage  and  Single  Life 101 

Of  Envy 103 

(;7)f  Love 109 

(^'Of  Great  Place HI 

Of  Boldness 116 


vi  CONTENTS  OF 

PAGE 

Essays  or  Counsels  Civil  and  Moral  —  (continued,^ 

Of  Goodness  and  Goodness  of  Nature     .         .        .       118 

Of  Nobility 121 

Of  Seditions  and  Troubles 123 

Of  Atheism 131 

Of  Superstition 135 

Of  Travel .137 

Of  Empire 140 

Of  Counsel 146 

Of  Delays 152 

-:    (J^f  Cunning 153 

Of  Wisdom  for  a  Man's  self 158 

Of  Innovations 160 

Of  Dispatch 161 

Of  Seeming  Wise 164 

_     Of  Friendship         .        .         .        .        .         .         .165 

Of  Expense 174 

Of  the  True  Greatness  of  Kingdoms  and  Estates     .       176 

Of  Regiment  of  Health 188 

Of  Suspicion 190 

Of  Discourse 191 

Of  Plantations 194 

Of  Riches 198 

Of  Prophecies 203 

Of  Ambition .  206 

Of  Masques  and  Triumphs 209 

Of  Nature  in  Men 211 

Of  Custom  and  Education 213 

Of  Fortune 215 

Of  Usury 218 

Of  Youth  and  Age 223 

Of  Beauty 225 

Of  Deformity 227 

Of  Building 223 

Of  Gardens 235 

Of  Negociating 245 

Of  Followers  and  Friends 24  7 

Of  Suitors 249 


THE  TWELFTH  VOLUME.  vii 


PAGE 


Essays  or  Counsels  Civil  and  Morai.  —  (continued.) 

(.jQ/*  Studies 252 

Of  Faction 254 

Of  Ceremonies  and  Respects 256 

Of  Praise 258 

Of  Yain-GIory 260 

Of  Honour  and  Reputation 263 

Of  Judicature 265 

Of  Anger 271 

Of  Vicissitude  of  Things 273 

Appendix  to  the  Essays  :  — 

I.  Fragment  of  an  Essay  on  Fame  ....       283 
II.  Early  Editions  of  the  Essays  :  — 

Edition  of  1597 287 

Manuscript  Collection 305 

Edition  of  1612 309 

III.  Essays  attributed  to  Bacon  without  authority        .       383 

De  Sapientia  Yeterum 403 

Preface 405 

Cassandra,  sive  Parrhesia 433 

Typhon,  sive  Rebellis 434 

Cyclopes,  sive  Ministri  Terroris  ....  436 

Narcissus,  sive  Philautia 438 

Styx,  sive  Foedera 439 

Pan,  sive  Natura 441 

Perseus,  sive  Bellum 449 

Endymion,  sive  Gratiosus 453 


IN 


HENEICUl  PEINCIPEM  WAIUM 

ELOGIUM   FRANCISCI   BACONI. 


PREFACE 


This  notice  of  the  character  of  Prince  Henry  was 
first  printed  by  Birch  in  his  edition  of  Bacon's  works, 
1763,  from  a  manuscript  in  the  Harleian  Collection 
(1893,  fo.  75.)  ;  the  only  copy  I  have  met  with.  It 
is  written  in  a  hand  of  the  time ;  I  think  in  that  of 
one  of  Bacon's  own  people.  At  any  rate  there  can 
be  no  doubt  as  to  the  authorship :  it  bears  all  the 
marks  of  Bacon's  style  ;  of  which  it  is  one  of  the 
best  specimens.  Birch  conjectured  that  it  was  in- 
tended to  be  sent  to  De  Thou  for  use  in  his  his- 
tory, as  the  memorial  of  Elizabeth  had  been.  This 
is  very  probable.  But  I  am  not  aware  that  anything 
is  known  about  it,  beyond  what  it  carries  on  its  face. 
Neither  does  it  seem  to  require  any  explanation  or 
illustration ;  unless  it  be  worth  while  to  say  that  the 
rumour  mentioned  in  the  last  sentence  —  the  rumour 
that  Prince  Henry  died  by  poison  —  was  revived  dur- 
ing the  trial  of  the  murderers  of  Sir  Thomas  Over- 
bury,  and  obtained  for  a  while  an  importance  which 
it  did  not  deserve,  from  some  dark  words  prematurely 
dropped  by  Sir  Edward  Coke.  It  seems  that  Frank- 
lin, the  apothecary  who  was  concerned  in  the  poison- 
ing of  Overbury,  finding  himself  condemned  to  death, 
began  to  talk  of  certain  dreadful  disclosures  which  he 


12  PREFACE. 

could  make  if  he  liked ;  how  more  were  to  be  poisoned 
than  were  yet  known ;  how  the  Earl  and  Countess  of 
Somerset  had  the  most  aspiring  minds  that  ever  were 
heard  of;  how  the  Earl  never  loved  the  Prince  nor 
the  Lady  Ehzabeth;  how  strange  it  was  that  the 
King  kept  an  outlandish  physician  about  his  person 
and  the  person  of  the  Prince  deceased ;  "  thereon  " 
he  said  "  lieth  a  long  tale ; "  how  he  knew  things 
he  was  ashamed  to  speak  of;  and  lastly  (to  come  to 
the  point)  how  "  he  could  make  one  discovery  that 
should  deserve  his  life :  "  with  other  things  of  the 
same  kind  —  devices  of  a  condemned  man  to  put  off 
the  day  of  his  hanging.  On  the  strength  of  these 
hints,  and  (strange  to  say)  before  he  had  made  fur- 
ther inquiry,  Coke  gave  out  a  mysterious  intimation 
in  open  court  of  iniquities  not  yet  brought  to  light, 
"which  he  knew  of;"  and  even  added  a  direct  allu- 
sion to  the  death  of  the  Prince,  as  a  mystery  con- 
cerning which  "he  knew  somewhat."  Hearing  such 
things  from  the  oracle  on  the  Bench,  the  people  natu- 
rally looked  for  the  revelation  of  some  new  horror ; 
and  when  nothing  came,  they  as  naturally  supposed 
that  it  had  been  for  some  mysterious  reason  hushed 
up,  and  so  betook  themselves  to  strange  conjectures, 
which  begot  a  brood  of  strange  rumours.  But  I  be- 
lieve the  whole  truth  is  that  when  Franklin's  dis- 
closures came  to  be  investigated,  it  was  found  (as 
might  have  been  expected)  that  there  was  nothing 
in  them.  Several  examinations  may  be  seen  in  the 
State  Paper  Office,  taken  down  in  Coke's  own  hand, 
evidently  suggested  by  the  information  of  Franklin, 
and  aiming  to  elicit  evidence  in  corroboration  of  it ; 
but  they  come   to   nothing  whatever,  beyond  a  few 


PREFACE.  13 

vague  rumours  and  old  wives'  stories.  These  papers 
sufficiently  explain  the  only  thing  connected  with 
Prince  Henry's  death  which  ever  required  explana- 
tion, —  namely  what  it  was  that  Coke  "  knew  "  about 
it.  What  he  said  was  quite  enough  to  account  for  all 
the  rest. 


IN 

HENEICUM   PEINCIPEM   WALllM 

ELOGIUM   FKANCISCI    BACONI.i 


Henricus  primogenitus  regis  magnae  'Britannige, 
princeps  Wallige,  antea  spe  beatus,  nunc  memoria 
felix,  diem  suum  obiit  6.°  Nov.  anno  1612.  Is  mag- 
no  totius  regni  luctu  et  desiderio  extinctus  est,  utpote 
adolescens,  qui  animos  hominum  nee  ofFendisset  nee 
satiasset.  Excitaverat  autem  propter  bonam  indolem 
multiplices  apud  plurimos  omnium  ordinum  spes,  nee 
ob  brevitatem  vitae  frustraverat.  Illud  inprimis  ac- 
cessit,  quod  in  causa  religionis  firmus  vulgo  habebatur ; 
prudentioribus  quoque  hoc  animo  penitus  insederat, 
adversus  insidias  conjurationum  (cui  malo  aetas  nostra 
vix  remedium  repperit)  patri  eum  instar  prsesidii  et 
scuti  fuisse ;  adeo  ut  et  religionis  et  regis  apud  popu- 
lum  amor  in  eum  redundaret,  et  in  aestimationem  jao- 
turae  merito  annum  eraretur. 

Erat  corpore  validus  et  erectus,  statur^  mediocri, 
decor^  membrorum  compage,  incessu  regio,  facie  ob- 
longa  et  in  maciem  inclinante,  habitu  plenior,  vultu 
composite,   oculorum  motu  magis   sedato  quam  forti. 

1  Harl.  MSS.  1893,  fo.  75. 


16         IN  HENRICUM  PEINCIPEM  WALLI^  ELOGIUM. 

Inerant  quoque  et  in  fronte  severitatis  signa,  et  in  ore 
nonnihil  fastus.  Sed  tamen  si  quis  ultra  exteriora  ilia 
penetraverat,  et  eum  obsequio  debito  et  sermone  tem- 
pestivo  deliniverat,  utebatur  eo  benigno  et  facili,  ut 
alius  longe  videretur  coUoquio  quam  aspectu ;  talisque 
prorsus  erat  qui  faman  sui  facile  excitatet  moribus 
dissimilem.  Laudis  et  glorise  fuit  proculdubio  appe- 
tens,  et  ad  omnem  speciem  boni  et  auram  decoris  com- 
movebatur ;  quod  adolescenti  pro  virtutibus  est.  Nam 
et  arma  ei  in  honore  erant  ac  viri  militares ;  quin  et 
ipse  quiddam  bellicum  spirabat ;  et  magnificentise  ope- 
rum  (licet  pecuniae  alioquin  satis  parens)  deditus  erat ; 
amator  insuper  antiquitatis  et  artium  ;  Uteris  quoque 
plus  honoris  attribuit  quam  temporis.  In  moribus  ejus 
nihil  laudandum  magis  fuit,  quam  quod  in  omni  genere 
officiorum  probe  institutus  videbatur  et  congruus.  Fil- 
ius  regi  patri  mire  obsequens,  etiam  reginam  multo 
cultu  demerebat,  erga  fratrem  indulgens  ;  sororem  vero 
unice  amabat,  quam  etiam  ore  (quantum  potuit  virilis 
forma  ad  eximiam  virginalem  pulchritudinem  collata) 
referebat.  Etiam  magistri  et  educatores  pueritiae  ejus 
(quod  raro  fieri  solet)  magna  in  gratia  apud  eum  man- 
serant ;  sermone  ^'  vero  obsequii  idem  exactor  et  me- 
mor ;  denique  in  quotidian©  vitae  genere,  et  assigna- 
tione  horarum  ad  singula  vitae  munia,  magis  quam  pro 
aetate  constans  atque  ordinatus.  AfFectus  ei  inerant  non 
nimium  vehementes,  et  potius  aequales  quam  magni. 
Etenim  de  rebus  amatoriis  mirum  in  ilia  aetate  silen- 
tium,  ut  prorsus  lubricum  illud  adolescentiae  suae  tem- 
pus  in  tanta  fortuna  et  valetudine  satis  prospera  absque 
aliqua  insigni  nota  amorum  transigeret.  Nemo  repe- 
riebatur  in  aula  ejus  apud  eum  praepotens,  aut  in  ani- 

1  sermonem  in  MS. 


IN  HENKICUM  PRINCIPEM  WALLIiE  ELOGIUM.  17 

mo  ejus  validus ;  quin  et  studia  ipsa  quibus  capiebatur 
maxime,  potius  tempora  patiebantur  quam  excessus,  et 
magis  repetita  erant  per  vices,  quam  quod  extaret  ali- 
quod  unum  quod  reliqua  superaret  et  compesceret ;  sive 
ea  moderatio  fuit,  sive  in  natura  non  admodum  prse- 
coci,  sed  lente  ^  maturescente,  non  cemebantur  adhuc 
quae  prgevalitura  erant.  Ingenio  certe  poUebat,  erat- 
que  et  curiosus  satis  et  capax  ;  sed  sermone  tardior  et 
tanquam  impeditus ;  et  tamen  si  quis  diligenter  obser 
vaverat  ea  quae  ab  eo  proferebantur,  sive  quaestionis  vim 
obtinebant  sive  sententiae,  ad  rem  omnino  erant,  et 
captum  non  vulgarem  arguebant ;  ut  in  ilia  loquendi 
tarditate  et  raritate,  judicium  ejus  magis  suspensum 
videretur  et  anxium,  quam  infirmum  aut  hebes.  Inte- 
rim audiendi  miris  modis  patiens,  etiam  in  negotiis  quae 
in  longitudinem  porrigebantur,  idque  cum  attentione  et 
sine  t^edio  ;  ut  raro  animo  peregrinaretur,  aut  fessa 
mente  aliud  ageret,  sed  ad  ea  quae  dicebantur  aut  age- 
bantur  animum  adverteret  atque  applicaret ;  quod  mag- 
nam  ei  (si  vita  suppetiisset)  prudentiam  spondebat. 
Certe  in  illius  principis  natura  plurima  erant  obscura, 
neque  judicio  cujuspiam  patefacienda,  sed  tempore, 
quod  ei  praereptum  est;  attamen  quae  apparebant  op- 
tima erant,  quod  famae  satis  est.  Mortuus  est  aetatis 
anno  decimo  nono,  ex  febre  contumaci,  quae  ubique  a 
magnis  et  (insulanis)  fere  insolitis  siccitatibus  ac  fervo- 
ribus  orta,  per  aestatem  populariter  grassabatur,  sed 
raro  iunere  ;  dein  sub  autumnum  erat  facta  lethalior. 
Addidit  fama,  atrocior  (ut  ille  ait)  erga  dominantium 
exitus,  suspicionem  veneni.  Sed  cum  nulla  ejus  rei 
extarent  indicia,  praesertim  in  ventriculo,  quod  prae- 
cipue  a  veneno  pati  solet,  is  sermo  cito  evanuit. 

1  lento  in  MS. 

VOT,.    XTI.  2 


MEMOKIAL 

OF 

HENRY   PEINCE   OF   WALES. 


Henry,  eldest  son  of  the  King  of  Great  Britain, 
late  of  blessed  hope,  now  of  happy  memory,  died  on 
the  6th  of  November,  1612.  He  died  to  the  great 
grief  and  regret  of  the  whole  kingdom,  as  being  a 
youth  who  had  neither  offended  men's  minds  nor  sati- 
ated them.  The  goodness  of  his  disposition  had  awa- 
kened manifold  hopes  among  numbers  of  all  ranks,  nor 
had  he  lived  long  enough  to  disappoint  them.  More- 
over, as  among  the  people  generally  he  had  the  repu- 
tation of  being  firm  in  the  cause  of  religion  ;  so  the 
wiser  sort  were  deeply  impressed  with  the  feeling  that 
he  had  been  to  his  father  as  a  guard  and  shield  against 
the  machinations  of  conspirators,  —  a  mischief  for 
which  our  age  has  hardly  found  a  remedy  ;  so  that 
the  love  of  the  people  both  for  religion  and  for  the 
King  overflowed  upon  him,  and  was  rightly  taken  into 
account  in  estimating  his  loss. 

In  body  he  was  strong  and  erect,  of  middle  height, 
his  limbs  gracefully  put  together,  his  gait  kinglike,  his 
face  long  and  somewhat  lean,  his  habit  rather  full,  his 


20  TEANSLATION   OF  THE 

countenance  composed,  and  the  motion  of  his  eyes 
rather  sedate  than  powerfuL  His  forehead  bore  marks 
of  severity,  his  mouth  had  a  touch  of  pride.  And 
yet  when  one  penetrated  beyond  those  outworks,  and 
soothed  him  with  due  attention  and  seasonable  dis- 
course, one  found  him  gentle  and  easy  to  deal  with ; 
so  that  he  seemed  quite  another  man  in  conversation 
than  his  aspect  promised  ;  and  altogether  he  was  one 
who  might  easily  get  himself  a  reputation  at  variance 
with  his  manners.  Of  praise  and  glory  he  was  doubt- 
less covetous ;  and  was  stirred  with  every  show  of  good 
and  every  breath  of  honour:  which  in  a  young  man 
goes  for  virtues.  For  both  arms  and  military  men 
were  in  honour  with  him ;  nor  was  he  himself  with- 
out something  of  a  warlike  spirit ;  he  was  given  also 
to  magnificence  of  works,  though  otherwise  frugal 
enough  of  money  ;  he  was  fond  of  antiquity  and  arts : 
and  a  favourer  of  learning,  though  rather  in  the  hon- 
our he  paid  it  than  the  time  he  spent  upon  it.  In  his 
morals  there  was  nothing  more  to  be  praised  than  that 
in  every  kind  of  duty  he  seemed  to  be  well  trained  and 
conformable.  He  was  a  wonderfully  obedient  son  to 
the  King  his  father,  very  attentive  also  to  the  Queen, 
kind  to  his  brother  ;  but  his  sister  he  especially  loved  ; 
whom  also  he  resembled  in  countenance,  as  far  as  a 
man's  face  can  be  compared  with  that  of  a  very  beauti- 
fril  girl.  The  masters  and  tutors  of  his  youth  also 
(which  rarely  happens)  continued  in  great  favour  with 
him.  In  discourse,  as  he  exacted  respect  from  others, 
so  he  observed  it  himself.  And  finally  in  his  daily 
way  of  life,  and  the  assignation  of  several  hours  for 
its  several  duties,  he  was  constant  and  regular  above 
the  habit  of  his  years.     His  passions  were  not  over 


IN  HENRICUM  PRINCIPEM  WALLIiE  ELOGIUM.  21 

vehement,  and  rather  equable  than  great.  For  of  love 
matters  there  was  wonderfully  little  talk,  considering 
his  age :  insomuch  that  he  passed  that  extremely  slip- 
pery time  of  his  early  manhood,  in  so  great  a  fortune 
and  in  very  good  health,  without  being  particularly 
noted  for  any  affairs  of  that  kind.  There  was  no  one 
in  his  court  that  had  great  power  with  him,  or  that 
possessed  a  strong  hold  on  his  mind.  The  very  pur- 
suits in  which  he  took  most  delight  had  rather  their 
times  than  their  excesses ;  and  were  repeated  each  in 
its  turn,  rather  than  some  one  allowed  to  take  the  lead 
and  overrule  the  rest ;  whether  that  were  moderation 
and  self-restraint,  or  that  in  a  nature  not  very  preco- 
cious, but  ripening  slowly,  it  did  not  yet  appear  which 
would  ultimately  prevail.  In  understanding  he  was 
certainly  strong,  and  did  not  want  either  curiosity  or 
capacity.  But  in  speech  he  was  somewhat  slow,  and 
as  it  were  embarrassed  ;  and  yet  if  you  observed  dili- 
gently the  things  he  said,  whether  in  asking  questions 
or  expressing  opinions,  they  were  ever  to  the  point, 
and  argued  no  ordinary  capacity ;  so  that  his  slow  and 
seldom  speaking  seemed  to  come  rather  from  suspense 
and  solicitude  than  weakness  or  dulness  of  judgment. 
In  the  meantime  he  was  a  wonderftilly  patient  listener, 
even  in  affairs  which  grew  to  length,  and  that  atten- 
tively, and  without  growing  weary  ;  so  that  he  seldom 
let  his  thoughts  wander  or  his  mind  lose  its  power  of 
attention,  but  kept  it  still  fixed  and  applied  to  that 
which  was  saying  or  doing:  a  habit  which  promised 
great  wisdom  in  him  if  he  had  lived.  Many  points 
there  were  indeed  in  this  prince's  nature  which  were 
obscure,  and  could  not  be  discovered  by  any  man's 
judgment,  but  only  by  time,  which  was  not  allowed 


22  TRANSLATION,  ETC. 

him.  Those  however  which  appeared  were  excellent ; 
which  is  enough  for  fame.  He  died  in  the  nineteenth 
year  of  his  age  of  a  malignant  fever,  which  —  spring- 
ing from  the  great  heats  and  droughts,  greater  than 
islanders  are  accustomed  to,  —  was  very  general  among 
the  people  during  the  summer,  though  few  died  of  it ; 
but  became  towards  autumn  more  fatal.  Rumour, 
ever  more  malignant  (as  Tacitus  says)  upon  the  deaths 
of  princes,  suggested  poison.  But  as  no  symptoms  of 
such  a  thing  appeared,  especially  in  the  stomach  which 
is  commonly  most  affected  by  poison,  that  report  soon 
died  away. 


IMAGINES  CIVILES 

JULII  C^SAKIS  ET  AUGUSTI  CJSAEIS. 


d 


PREFACE. 


Of  the  two  following  pieces  all  I  know  is  that  Dr. 
Rawley  says  he  found  them  among  Bacon's  papers, 
and  understanding  that  they  were  praised  by  men  of 
great  reputation  (a  laudatissimis  viris  collaudatas) 
printed  them  together  with  the  last  among  the  Opus- 
cula  Posthuma  in  1658,  and  inserted  English  transla- 
tions of  them  in  the  second  edition  of  the  Resuscitatio 
in  1661. 

The  character  of  Julius  Caesar  is  apparently  fin- 
ished. With  that  of  Augustus  Bacon  does  not  seem 
to  have  proceeded  beyond  the  opening  paragraph  ; 
though  Dr.  Rawley  has  printed  it  as  if  it  were  com- 
plete ;  nor  has  any  one,  so  far  as  I  know,  observed 
that  it  is  only  a  fragment.  In  other  respects  they 
tell  their  own  story,  and  do  not  appear  to  require  any 
further  explanation. 


IMAGO   CIVILIS  JULII   C^ESARIS. 


Julius  C^sar  a  principio  fortuna  exercita  usus  est, 
quod  ei  in  bonum  vertit ;  hoc  enim  illi  fastum  detraxit, 
nervos  intendit.  Animus  ei  inerat  studio  et  afFectu 
turbidus,  judicio  et  intellectu  admodum  serenus  :  hoc- 
que  indicat  facilis  ilia  sui  explicatio,  turn  in  rebus 
gerendis,  turn  in  sermone.  Nemo  enim  aut  celerius 
decernebat  aut  magis  perspicue  loquebatur :  nil  im- 
peditum,  nil  involutum  quis  notaret.  Voluntate  autem 
et  appetitu  is  erat,  qui  nunquam  partis  acquiescebat, 
sed  ad  ulteriora  semper  tendebat:  ita  tamen  ut  non 
immaturo  fastidio,  sed  legitimis  spatiis,  transitus  actio- 
num  gubernaret :  semper  enim  perfectissimas  clausulas 
actionibus  imponebat.  Itaque  ille,  qui  post  tot  victo- 
rias et  tantam  partam  securitatem,  reliquias  belli  civilis 
in  Hispania  non  contempsit,  sed  praesens  subegit,  post 
extremum  illud  demum  bellum  civile  confectum  et 
omnia  undique  pacata,  expeditionem  in  Parthos  con- 
tinuo  moliebatur.  Erat  proculdubio  summa  animi  mag- 
nitudine,  sed  ea,  quae  magis  amplitudinem  propriam 
quam  merita  in  commune  spiraret.  Prorsus  enim 
omnia  ad  se  referebat,  atque  ipse  sibi  erat  fidissimum 
omnium  actionum  suarum  centrum  :  quod  maximam 
ei  et  perpetuam  fere  felicitatem  peperit.  Non  enim 
patria,  non  religio,  non  officia,  non  necessitudines,  non 


28  IMAGO   CIVILIS  JULII  CiESARIS. 

amicitiae,  destinata  ejus  remorabantur,  vel  in  ordlnem 
redigebant.  Nee  magnopere  versus  in  setemitatem 
erat ;  ut  qui  nee  statum  rerum  stabiliret,  nee  quicquam 
egregium,  vel  mole  vel  institute,  fundaret  vel  conderet ; 
sed  veluti  ad  se  cuncta  retulit.  Sic  etiam  ad  sua  tem- 
pera cogitationum  fines  recepit.  Nominis  tantum  celeb- 
ritate  frui  voluit,  quod  etiam  sua  id  nonnihil  interesse 
putaret.  Ac  in  propriis  certe  votis,  magis  potentiaB 
quam  dignitati  studebat ;  dignitatem  enim  et  famam 
non  propter  se,  sed  ut  instrumenta  potentiae,  colebat. 
Itaque  veluti  naturali  impetu,  non  morata  aliqua  disci- 
plina  ductus,  rerum  potiri  volebat;  iisque  magis  uti 
quam  dignus  videri :  quod  ei  apud  populum,  cui  nulla 
inerat  dignitas,  gratiosum  erat ;  apud  nobiles  et  pro- 
ceres,  qui  et  suam  dignitatem  retinere  volebant,  id 
obtinuit  nomen,  ut  cupidus  et  audax  videretur.  Neque 
multum  sane  a  vero  aberrarunt,  cum  natura  audacissi- 
mus  esset,  nee  verecundiam  unquam,  nisi  ex  composite, 
indueret.  Atque  nihilo  secius  ita  ista  efficta  erat  auda- 
cia,  ut  eum  nee  temeritatis  argueret,  nee  fastidio  homi- 
nes enecaret,  nee  naturam  ejus  suspectam  faceret ;  sed 
ex  morum  simplicitate  quadam  et  fiducia,  ac  nobilitate 
generis,  ortum  habuisse  putaretur.  Atque  in  caeteris 
quoque  rebus  omnibus  id  obtinuit,  ut  minime  callidus 
aut  veterator  haberetur,  sed  apertus  et  verax.  Cum- 
que  summus  simulationis  et  dissimulationis  artifex  esset, 
totusque  ex  artibus  compositus,  ut  nihil  naturae  suae 
reliquum  esset,  nisi  quod  ars  probavisset ;  tamen  nil  ar- 
tificii,  nil  affectationis  appareret,  sed  natura  et  ingenio 
suo  frui,  eaque  sequi  existimaretur.  Neque  tamen 
minoribus  et  vilioribus  artificiis  et  cautelis  omnino  ob- 
noxius  erat,  quibus  homines  rerum  imperiti  et  qui  non 
propriis  viribus  sed  alienis  facultatibus  subnixi,  ad  auc- 


IMAGO  CIVILIS  JULII  CiESARIS.  29 

toritatem  suam  tuendam  uti  necesse  habent ;  utpote 
qui  omnium  actionum  humanarum  peritissimus  esset, 
atque  cuncta  paulo  majora  ipse  per  se,  non  per  alios, 
transigeret.  Invidiam  autem  extinguere  optime  norat ; 
idque  vel  dignitatis  jactura  consequi,  non  alienum  a 
rationibus  suis  duxit  ;  veramque  potentiam  amplexus, 
omnem  illam  inanem  speciem  et  tumidum  apparatum 
potentiae  aequo  animo  per  totum  fere  vitse  cursum 
declinavit  et  transmisit :  donee  tandem,  sive  satiatus 
potentia  sive  adulationibus  corruptus,  etiam  insignia 
potentiae,  nomen  regium  et  diadema,  concupivit ;  quod 
in  pernicem  ejus  vertit.  Regnare  autem  jam  usque  a 
juventute  meditatus  est ;  idque  ei  exemplum  Syll^, 
affinitas  Marii,  semulatio  Pompeii,  corruptelae  et  per- 
turbatio  temporum,  facile  suggerebant.  Yiam  autem 
sibi  ad  regnum  miro  ordine  sternebat :  primum  per  po- 
tentiam popularem  et  seditiosam,  deinde  per  potentiam 
militarem  et  imperatoriam.  Nam  initio  sibi  erant  fran- 
gendae  senatus  opes  et  auctoritas,  qua  salva  nemini  ad 
immodica  et  extraordinaria  imperia  aditus  erat.  Turn 
demum  evertenda  erat  Crassi  et  Pompeii  potentia, 
quod  nisi  armis  fieri  non  poterat.  Itaque  (ut  faber 
fortunae  suae  peritissimus)  primam  structuram  per  lar- 
gitiones,  per  judiciorum  corruptelas,  per  renovationem 
memoriae  C.  Marii  et  partium  ejus  (cum  plerique  sena- 
torum  et  nobilium  e  Syllana  factione  essent),  per  leges 
agrarias,  per  seditiosos  tribunos  quos  immittebat,  per 
Catilinae  et  conjuratorum  insanias  quibus  occulto  favebat, 
per  exilium  Ciceronis,  in  cujus  causa  senatus  auctoritas 
vertebatur,  ac  complures  hujusmodi  artes,  attollebat  et 
evehebat :  sed  maxime  omnium  per  Crassi  et  Pompeii 
et  inter  se  et  secum  conjunctionem  absolvebat.  Qua 
parte  absoluta,  ad  alteram  continuo  partem  accinge- 


30  IMAGO   CIVILIS  JULII   CJISARIS. 

batur,  factus  Proconsul  Galliarum  in  quinquennium, 
rursusque  in  alterum  quinquennium,  atque  armis,  le- 
gionibus,  et  bellicosa  et  opulenta  provincia  potens,  et 
Italiae  imminens.  Neque  enim  eum  latebat,  postquam 
se  armis  et  militari  potentia  firmasset,  nee  Crassum 
nee  Pompeium  sibi  parem  futurum  ;  cum  alter  divitiis, 
alter  famaB  et  nomini  confideret ;  alter  aetate,  alter 
auctoritate  senesceret ;  neuter  veris  et  vigentibus  prse- 
sidiis  niteretur.  Quae  omnia  ei  ex  voto  cessere ;  pras- 
sertim  cum  ipse  singulos  senatores  et  magistratus,  et 
denique  omnes  qui  aliquid  poterant,  ita  privatis  bene- 
ficiis  devinctos  et  obstrictos  haberet,  ut  securus  esset 
de  aliqua  conspiratione  vel  consensu  adversus  suos 
conatus  ineundis,  antequam  aperte  rempublicam  in- 
vaderet.  Quod  cum  et  semper  destinasset,  et  ali- 
quando  tandem  faceret,  tamen  personam  suam  non 
deponebat ;  sed  ita  se  gerebat,  ut  aequitate  postula- 
torum,  et  simulatione  pacis,  et  successibus  suis  mo- 
derandis,  invidiam  in  adversas  partes  torqueret ;  seque 
incolumitatis  suae  gratia  ad  bellum  necessarium  coac- 
tum  prae  se  ferret.  Cujus  simulationis  vanitas  mani- 
festo deprehensa  est,  postquam  confectis  bellis  civilibus 
regiam  potestatem  adeptus,  omnibusque  aemulis  qui 
aliquam  ei  solicitudinem  injicere  possent  e  medio  sub- 
latis,  tamen  de  reddenda  republica  ne  semel  quidem 
cogitavit,  neque  hoc  saltem  fingere  aut  praetexere  dig- 
naretur.  Quod  liquido  declarat,  cupiditatem  et  pro- 
positum  regni  adipiscendi  ei  et  semper  fuisse,  et  ad 
extremum  patuisse.  Neque  enim  occasionem  aliquam 
arripuit,  sed  ipse  occasiones  excitavit  et  efFonnavit.  In 
bellicis  autem  rebus  maxime  ejus  virtus  enituit,  quae 
tantum  valuit,  ut  exercitum  non  tantum  duceret,  sed 
et  effingeret.     Neque  enim  major  ei  scientia  aifuit  in 


IMAGO  CIVILIS   JULII   C^SARIS.  31 

rebus  gerendis,  quam  in  animis  tractandis :  neque  id 
vulgari  aliqua  disciplina,  quae  obsequium  assuefaceret 
ad  mandata,  aut  pudorem  incuteret,  aut  severitatem 
usurparet ;  sed  quae  miris  modis  ardorem  et  alacritatem 
adderet,  et  victoriam  fere  praeriperet ;  quaeque  militem 
erga  ipsum  plus  conciliaret  quam  liberae  reipublicae 
conducebat.  Cum  autem  in  omni  genere  belli  ver- 
satus  esset,  cumque  artes  civiles  cum  bellicis  conjun- 
geret,  nil  tam  improvisum  ei  accidebat,  ad  quod  reme- 
dium  paratum  non  haberet ;  et  nil  tam  adversum,  ex 
quo  non  utilitatem  aliquam  derivaret.  Personse  autem 
suae  debitas  partes  attribuit ;  ut  qui  sedens  in  praetorio 
in  magnis  praeliis  omnia  per  nuntios  administraret.  Ex 
quo  duplicem  fructum  capiebat ;  ut  et  in  discrimen 
rarius  se  committeret,  atque  ut  cum  res  inclinare  coe- 
pissent,  praelium  per  ipsius  praesentiam,  veluti  nova 
auxilia,  instauraretur.  In  omni  autem  apparatu  et 
conatu  bellico,  non  tantum  ad  exempla  res  gerebat,  sed 
nova  et  accommodata  summa  ratione  comminiscebatur. 
Amicitias  satis  constanter  et  singulari  cum  beneficentia 
et  indulgentia  coluit.  Amicorum  tamen  hujusmodi 
delectum  fecit,  ut  facile  appareret,  eum  id  qua^rere,  ut 
instrumenti,  non  impedimenti,  loco  amicitia  eorum  es- 
set. Cum  autem  et  natura  et  instituto  ferretur  ad  hoc, 
ut  non  eminens  inter  magnos,  sed  imperans  inter  ob- 
sequentes  esset,  amicos  sibi  adjunxit  humiles  sed  in- 
dustrios,  quibus  ipse  omnia  esset.  Hinc  illud,  "  Ita 
vivente  Caesare  moriar ;  "  et  castera  id  genus.  Nobi- 
lium  autem  et  aequalium  suorum  amicitias  ex  usu  suo 
asciscebat :  ex  intimis  autem  neminem  fere  admittebat, 
nisi  qui  ex  se  omnia  speraret.  Quin  et  literis  et  doc- 
trina  mediocriter  excultus  fuit,  sed  ea  qu£e  ad  civilem 
usum  aliquid  conferret.     Nam  et  in  historia  versatus 


32  IMAGO  CIVILIS  JULII   C^SARIS. 

erat,  et  verborum  pondera  et  acumlna  mire  callebat ; 
et  cum  multa  felicitati  suae  tribueret,  peritus  astrorum 
videri  voluit.  Eloquentia  autem  ei  nativa  et  pura  erat. 
In  voluptates  propensus  ac  efFusus  erat,  quod  ei  apud 
initia  sua  loco  simulationis  erat ;  nemo  enim  periculum 
ab  hujusmodi  ingenio  metuebat.  Voluptates  autem 
suas  ita  moderabatur,  ut  nihil  utilitati  aut  negotiorum 
summse  officerent,  et  animo  potius  vigorem  quam  lan- 
guorem  tribuerent.  In  mensa  sobrius,  circa  libidines 
incuriosus,  in  ludis  Isetus  et  magnificus.  Talis  cum 
esset,  id  ad  extremum  ei  exitio  fuit,  quod  ad  principia 
sua  incremento  fuerat ;  id  est,  studium  popularitatis. 
Nil  enim  tam  populare  est  quam  ignoscere  inimicis : 
qua  sive  virtute  sive  arte  ille  peri  it. 


IMAGO  CIVILIS  AUGUSTI  C^SARIS. 


AuGUSTO  CiESARi,  si  cui  mortalium,  magnitudo 
animi  inerat  inturbida,  serena,  et  ordinata  :  idque 
indicant  res  illae  omnium  maximae,  quas  ab  ineunte 
adolescentia  gessit.  Nam  qui  ingenio  commotiores 
sunt,  ii  fere  adolescentias  per  varios  errores  transigunt, 
ac  sub  mediam  setatem  demum  se  ostendunt :  quibus 
autem  natura  est  composita  et  placida,  ii  prima  etiam 
setate  florere  possunt.  Atque  cum  animi  dotes,  sicut 
et  bona  corporis,  sanitate  quadam,  pulchritudine,  et 
viribus  contineantur  et  absolvantur,  fuit  certe  avun- 
culo  Julio  viribus  animi  impar,  pulchritudine  et 
sanitate  superior.  Ille  enim  inquietus  et  incompos- 
itus  (ut  sunt  fere  ii  qui  comitiali  morbo  tentantur) 
se  ad  fines  suos  nihilominus  summa  ratione  expedie- 
bat;  sed  ipsos  fines  minime  ordinaverat,  sed  impetu 
infinito,  et  ultra  mortale  appetens,  ferebatur  ad  ul- 
teriora.  Hie  autem  sobrius,  et  mortalitatis  memor, 
etiam  fines  suos  ordine  admirabili  descriptos  et  libra- 
tos  habuisse  visus  est.  Primum  enim,  rerum  potiri 
volebat ;  deinde  id  assequi,  ut  dignus  eo  fastigio  ex- 
istimaretur ;  dein  etiam,  frui  summa  fortuna  huma- 
num  esse  ducebat ;  ad  extremum,  addere  se  rebus,  et 
imaginem  et  virtutem  sui  principatus  seculis  post  se 
futuris  imprimere  et  inferre  meditabatur.  Itaque 
prima  Eetate  Potentise,  media  Dignitati,  vergente  Vo- 
luptatibus,  senectute  Memoriae  et  Posteritati  serviebat. 


CHARACTER   OF   JULIUS   CiESAR. 


Julius  C^sar  had  from  the  begmning  a  fortune 
full  of  exercise :  which  turned  to  his  advantage :  for 
it  took  away  his  pride  and  braced  his  sinews.  A 
mind  he  had,  in  desires  and  affections  turbulent,  but 
in  judgment  and  intellect  very  serene  ;  as  appears  by 
the  ease  with  which  he  delivjered  himself  both  in  action 
and  speech.  For  no  man  decided  quicker,  or  spoke 
clearer:  there  was  nothing  embarrassed,  nothing  in- 
volved about  him.  But  in  will  and  appetite  he  was 
one  who  never  rested  in  what  he  had  got,  but  ever 
pressed  forward  to  things  beyond.  And  yet  he  was 
not  hurried  from  one  action  to  another  by  a  humour 
of  weariness,  but  made  the  transitions  at  the  just 
periods :  for  he  always  brought  his  actions  to  the  most 
perfect  closes.  And  therefore  he  that  after  winning 
so  many  victories  and  making  himself  so  secure  did 
not  despise  the  relics  of  civil  war  in  Spain,  but  went  in 
person  to  put  an  end  to  them  ;  as  soon  as  ever  that  last 
civil  war  was  concluded  and  peace  established  every- 
where, immediately  set  about  an  expedition  against  the 
Parthians.  Greatness  of  mhid  he  undoubtedly  had  in 
a  very  high  degree  ;  yet  such  as  aspired  more  after 
personal  aggrandisement  than  merit  towards  the  pub- 
He.     For  he  referred  everything  to  himself,  and  was 


36  TRANSLATION  OF  THE 

himself  the  true  and  perfect  centre  of  all  his  own 
actions :  which  was  the  cause  of  his  singular  and 
almost  perpetual  felicity.  For  he  allowed  neither 
country,  nor  religion,  nor  services,  nor  kindred,  nor 
friendships,  to  be  any  hindrance  or  bridle  to  his  pur- 
poses. Neither  was  he  much  bent  upon  perpetuity ; 
as  one  who  neither  established  the  state  of  aflPairs,  nor 
founded  or  erected  anything  remarkable  either  in  the 
way  of  building  or  institution ;  but  as  it  were  referred 
all  things  to  himself.  So  also  he  confined  his  thoughts 
within  the  circle  of  his  own  times.  Only  his  name 
he  wished  to  make  famous ;  because  he  thought  he 
had  himself  some  interest  in  that.  And  assuredly  in 
his  private  wishes  he  cared  more  for  power  than  repu- 
tation. For  he  sought  reputation  and  fame  not  for 
themselves,  but  as  instruments  of  power.  By  natural 
impulse  therefore,  not  by  any  moral  guiding,  he  aspired 
to  the  supreme  authority ;  and  aspired  rather  to  possess 
it  than  to  be  thought  worthy  of  it :  a  thing  which  gave 
him  favour  with  the  people,  who  had  no  dignity  of 
their  own  ;  but  with  the  nobles  and  great  persons,  who 
wished  also  to  preserve  their  own  dignity,  procured  him 
the  reputation  of  covetousness  and  boldness.  Wherein 
assuredly  they  were  not  far  from  the  truth :  for  he  was 
by  nature  extremely  bold,  and  never  showed  any  bash- 
fulness  except  when  he  assumed  it  on  purpose.  And 
yet  for  all  that,  this  boldness  was  so  fashioned  as  nei- 
ther to  impeach  him  of  rashness,  nor  to  make  him 
intolerable,  nor  to  bring  his  nature  into  suspicion ;  but 
was  thought  to  proceed  from  a  simplicity  of  manners, 
and  confidence,  and  the  nobility  of  his  birth.  And  the 
same  held  good  in  all  things  else,  that  he  was  taken 
to  be  by  no   means  cunning  or  wily,  but  frank  and 


IMAGO   CIVILIS  JULII  CJlSARIS.  37 

veracious.  And  though  he  was  in  fact  a  consummate 
master  of  simulation  and  dissimulation,  and  made  up 
entirely  of  arts,  insomuch  that  nothing  was  left  to  his 
nature  except  what  art  had  approved,  nevertheless 
there  appeared  in  him  nothing  of  artifice,  nothing 
of  dissimulation ;  and  it  was  thought  that  his  nature 
and  disposition  had  full  play  and  that  he  did  but 
follow  the  bent  of  them.  Yet  for  the  smaller  and 
meaner  artifices  and  precautions,  to  which  men  un- 
skilled in  affairs  and  depending  not  on  their  own 
strength  but  on  help  from  without,  are  driven  for  the 
support  of  their  authority,  he  was  not  at  all  beholden 
to  these ;  as  being  a  man  exceedingly  expert  in  all 
human  actions,  and  who  managed  all  business  of  any 
consequence  for  himself,  not  by  others.  How  to  ex- 
tinguish envy  he  knew  excellently  well ;  and  thought 
it  an  object  worth  purchasing  even  by  the  sacrifice  of 
dignity ;  and  being  in  quest  of  real  power,  he  was  con- 
tent during  the  whole  course  of  his  life  to  decline  and 
put  by  all  the  empty  show  and  pomp  and  circumstance 
of  it :  until  at  last,  whether  satiated  with  power  or  cor- 
rupted by  flattery,  he  aspired  likewise  to  the  external 
emblems  thereof,  the  name  of  king  and  the  crown ; 
which  turned  to  his  destruction.  The  sovereignty  was 
the  mark  he  aimed  at  even  from  his  youth  ;  the  exam- 
ple of  Sylla,  the  relationship  of  Marius,  the  emulation 
of  Pompey,  the  corruptions  and  perturbation  of  the 
times,  readily  suggesting  it  to  him.  But  he  made  him- 
self a  way  to  the  sovereignty  in  a  strange  order ;  first 
by  means  of  a  power  popular  and  seditious,  afterwards 
by  a  power  military  and  imperatorial.  For  at  first  he 
had  to  break  the  force  and  authority  of  the  senate ; 
during  the  maintenance  of  which  no  man  could  find  a 


38 


TKANSLATION   OF  THE 


passage  to  immoderate  and  extraordinary  commands. 
And  after  that,  he  had  to  overthrow  the  power  of 
Crassus  and  Pompey,  which  could  not  be  done  except 
by  arms.  And  therefore  (as  a  most  skilful  carpenter 
of  his  own  fortune)  he  raised  the  first  structure  by 
means  of  largesses,  corruption  of  the  courts  of  justice, 
revival  of  the  memory  of  Caius  Marius  and  his  party 
(most  of  the  senators  and  nobles  being  of  the  Syllan 
faction),  agrarian  laws,  putting  in  of  seditious  tribunes, 
secret  favouring  of  the  madnesses  of  Catiline  and  his 
conspirators,  banishment  of  Cicero,  upon  whose  cause 
the  authority  of  the  senate  turned,  and  a  number  of 
the  like  arts ;  but  most  of  all  by  the  conjunction  of 
Crassus  and  Pompey  first  with  one  another  and  then 
with  himself,  which  completed  it.  Which  part  of  his 
design  being  accomplished,  he  immediately  addressed 
himself  to  the  other;  obtaining  the  proconsulship  of 
Gaul  for  five  years,  and  then  again  for  another  five 
years ;  and  so  making  himself  powerful  in  arms,  le- 
gions, and  a  warlike  and  opulent  province,  in  a  posi- 
tion to  threaten  Italy.  For  he  saw  well  that  as  soon 
as  he  had  strengthened  himself  with  arms  and  military 
power,  neither  Crassus  nor  Pompey  would  be  a  match 
for  him ;  seeing  that  the  one  trusted  to  his  wealth  and 
the  other  to  his  fame  and  reputation ;  the  one  waxed 
old  in  years,  the  other  in  authority ;  neither  had  sound 
and  vigorous  safeguards  to  rest  upon.  All  which 
things  fell  out  to  him  according  to  his  desire :  the 
rather  because  he  had  the  several  senators  and  magis- 
trates, and  indeed  all  persons  who  had  any  power,  so 
obliged  and  bound  to  himself  by  private  benefits,  that 
there  was  no  danger  of  any  combination  being  formed 
to  oppose  his  designs,  before  he  should  openly  invade 


IMAGO   CIVILIS  JULII    C^SARIS. 


39 


the  commonwealth.  Which  though  he  had  always 
intended  to  do,  and  at  last  did,  yet  he  did  not  put  off 
his  mask  ;  but  so  carried  himself  that,  what  with  the 
reasonableness  of  his  demands,  what  with  the  pretence 
of  a  desire  of  peace,  what  with  the  moderate  use  of  his 
successes,  he  turned  the  envy  on  the  other  party,  and 
made  it  seem  that  he  was  driven  for  his  own  safety 
into  a  necessary  war.  The  hollowmess  of  which  pre- 
tence was  clearly  proved,  when  the  civil  wars  being 
ended,  and  he  being  in  possession  of  the  sovereign 
power,  and  all  the  rivals  that  could  cause  him  any 
anxiety  being  removed  out  of  the  way,  yet  he  never 
once  thought  of  restoring  the  commonwealth,  no,  nor 
cared  to  make  so  much  as  a  pretence  of  doing  it. 
Which  plainly  shows  that  the  desire  and  purpose  of 
obtaining  the  sovereignty  had  always  been  in  him,  and 
at  last  came  out.  For  he  did  not  merely  seize  an  occa- 
sion that  offered  itself;  himself  made  and  shaped  the 
occasions.  It  was  in  the  business  of  war  that  his 
ability  was  most  conspicuous ;  and  so  great  it  was,  that 
he  could  not  only  lead  an  army  but  make  one.  For 
he  was  not  more  skilful  in  conducting  actions  than  in 
the  management  of  men's  minds :  and  that  not  by  any 
ordinaiy  kind  of  discipline,  that  inured  them  to  obey 
commands,  or  awakened  a  sense  of  shame,  or  enforced 
by  severity ;  but  one  that  inspired  a  wonderful  ardour 
and  alacrity,  and  won  the  battle  almost  before  it  began  : 
and  endeared  him  to  the  soldiery  more  than  was  good 
for  a  free  commonwealth.  Versed  as  he  was  moreover 
in  every  kind  of  war,  and  uniting  civil  arts  with  mili- 
tary, no  accident  took  him  so  unexpectedly  but  he  had 
a  remedy  prepared  for  it ;  nothing  fell  out  so  cross,  but 
he  drew  some  advantage  from  it.     For  his  own  person 


40 


TRANSLATION  OF  THE 


he  had  a  due  respect :  as  one  that  would  sit  in  his  tent 
during  great  battles,  and  manage  everything  by  mes- 
sages. From  which  he  derived  a  double  advantage : 
first  that  he  went  seldomer  into  danger,  and  secondly 
that  if  ever  the  fortune  of  the  day  were  going  against 
him,  his  own  presence  was  as  good  as  a  fresh  reinforce- 
ment to  restore  the  battle.  And  in  his  warlike  ar- 
rangements and  enterprises  he  did  not  conduct  things 
merely  according  to  precedent,  but  would  invent  with 
consummate  judgment  new  devices  framed  to  the  occa- 
sion. In  his  friendships  he  was  constant  enough,  and 
singularly  kind  and  indulgent.  And  yet  he  made 
choice  of  such  friends  that  it  was  easy  to  see  that  he 
meant  their  friendship  to  be  an  instrument  and  not  an 
impediment.  And  since  his  aim  both  by  nature  and 
principle  was  not  to  be  eminent  among  great  men,  but 
to  command  among  followers,  he  chose  for  his  friends 
men  that  were  of  mean  condition,  but  industrious  and 
active,  to  whom  he  might  be  all  in  all.  Hence  the 
saying  "  Let  me  die,  so  Caesar  live,"  and  the  like. 
With  nobles  and  equals  he  made  friendships  according 
to  his  occasions ;  but  he  admitted  no  man  to  intimacy 
except  such  whose  hopes  rested  entirely  in  himself. 
In  letters  and  learning  he  was  moderately  well  accom- 
plished, but  it  was  that  kind  of  learning  which  was  of 
use  in  the  business  of  life.  For  he  was  well  versed  in 
history,  and  had  wonderful  knowledge  of  the  weight 
and  point  of  words  ;  and  because  he  attributed  much 
to  his  felicity,  he  affected  to  be  learned  in  the  stars. 
Eloquence  he  had  also,  natural  and  pure.  To  pleas- 
ures he  was  naturally  inclined,  and  indulged  freely  in 
them  ;  which  in  his  early  times  served  the  purpose  of 
simulation ;  for  no  one  feared  any  danger  from  such  a 


IMAGO   CIVILIS  JULII   CJISARIS.  41 

disposition.  But  he  so  governed  his  pleasures,  that 
they  were  no  hindrance  to  his  interest  and  main  busi- 
ness, and  his  mind  was  rather  invigorated  than  made 
languid  by  them.  At  the  table  he  was  sober,  in  his 
lusts  not  particular,  in  public  entertainments  gay  and 
magnificent.  Such  being  the  man,  the  same  thing  was 
his  destruction  at  last  which  in  the  beginning  was  his 
advancement,  I  mean  the  desire  of  popularity.  For 
there  is  nothing  so  popular  as  the  forgiveness  of  ene- 
mies :  and  this  it  was  which,  whether  it  were  virtue  or 
art,  cost  him  his  life. 


CHARACTER  OF  AUGUSTUS  C^SAR. 


Augustus  C^sar  was  endued,  if  ever  man  was, 
with  a  greatness  of  mind,  calm,  serene,  and  well- 
ordered  :  witness  the  exceeding  great  actions  which 
he  conducted  in  his  early  youth.  For  men  of  impet- 
uous and  unsettled  dispositions  commonly  pass  their 
youth  in  various  errors ;  and  it  is  not  till  middle  age 
that  they  show  what  they  are.  But  those  whose  na- 
ture is  composed  and  placid  may  flourish  even  in  their 
first  years.  And  whereas  the  gifts  of  the  mind,  like 
those  of  the  body,  are  contained  and  completed  in 
three  things,  —  health,  beauty,  and  strength,  —  he 
was  certainly  in  strength  of  mind  inferior  to  his  uncle 
Julius,  but  in  beauty  and  health  of  mind  superior. 
For  Julius  being  of  a  restless  and  unsettled  disposi- 
tion, though  for  the  compassing  of  his  ends  he  made 
his  arrangements  with  consummate  judgment,  yet  had 
not  his  ends  themselves  arranged  in  any  good  order ; 
but  was  carried  on  and  on  with  an  impulse  that  knew 
no  bounds,  aiming  at  things  beyond  the  reach  of  mor- 
tality. Whereas  Augustus,  as  a  man  sober  and  mind- 
ful of  his  mortal  condition,  seems  to  have  had  his  ends 
likewise  laid  out  from  the  first  in  admirable  order  and 
truly  weio-hed.     For  first  he  made  it  his  aim  to  be  at 


44  CHARACTER  OF  AUGUSTUS   C^SAR. 

the  head  of  affairs  :  then  to  become  the  position  and 
be  esteemed  worthy  of  it ;  next  he  considered  it  fit 
for  him,  as  a  man,  to  enjoy  that  height  of  fortune : 
and  lastly,  he  thought  to  apply  himself  to  some  real 
work,  and  so  transmit  to  the  next  ages  the  impression 
of  the  image  and  the  effects  of  the  virtue  of  his  govern- 
ment. In  the  first  period  of  his  life  therefore  he  made 
Power  his  object ;  in  the  middle  period.  Dignity  ;  in 
his  declining  years.  Pleasures :  and  in  his  old  age, 
Memory  and  Posterity. 


ADDITIONS   AND   CORRECTIONS 

INSERTED  BY  BACON  IN  A  MANUSCRIPT  COPY  OF 
CAMDEN'S  ANNALS  OF  QUEEN  ELIZABETH. 

(CoTT.  Faust.  F.  viii.  ix.) 


PREFACE. 


The  three  first  books  of  Camden's  Annals  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  extending  from  the  beginning  of  her  reign 
to  the  end  of  the  year  1589,  were  published  by  order 
of  James  I.  in  1615.  The  rest  he  completed  soon 
after,  and  lodged  a  copy  of  it  in  the  hands  of  his 
friend  Petrus  Puteanus  ;  —  to  be  preserved,  but  not 
published  till  after  his  death.  He  died  in  November 
1623 ;  and  the  fourth  book  (printed,  if  I  understand 
the  story  right,  from  Puteanus's  copy)  appeared  in 
1627.  It  appears  however  that  a  better  copy  was  in 
existence ;  that  after  the  three  first  books  were  pub- 
lished, and  the  fourth  copied,  Camden  had  revised 
and  corrected  the  whole  ;  that  a  fair  copy  of  the  three 
first  (described  as  "  the  first  part  of  Mr.  Camden's 
Elizabetha  enlarged  for  the  next  impression  ")  passed 
through  the  representatives  of  Sir  Robert  Cotton  into 
the  hands  of  Dr.  Thomas  Smith  ;  and  a  corrected 
copy  of  the  fourth,  through  what  channel  we  are  not 
informed,  into  the  hands  of  Dr.  Rawlinson  ;  ^  and  that 


1  Both  these  copies  are  in  the  Bodleian  Library.  The  first  ( Smith  MS. 
No.  2.)  is  a  printed  copy  of  the  original  folio,  with  the  alterations  and 
additions  inserted  in  Camden's  own  hand.  The  second  (8vo.  Rawlinson, 
707.)  has  the  following  note  on  the  blank  leaf  at  the  beginning:  —  "  This 
book  belongs  to  my  honoured  and  learned  friend  Thos.  Rawlinson,  Esq. 
Tho.  Heame,  Aug.  25th,  1716."  It  is  a  copy  of  the  Elzevir  edition,  Lugd. 
Batav.  MDCXXXIX,  containing  many  alterations  and  additions  inserted 
between  the  lines  or  leaves,  in  manuscript.  They  are  very  clearly  written 
in  a  small,  firm,  regular  hand ;  whose,  I  could  not  learn. 


48  PKEFACE. 

both  of  these  were  ultimately  entrusted  to  Thomj 
Hearne,  and  used  in  his  edition  of  the  entire  worl 
published  in  1717. 

In  Hearne's  edition  the  differences  between  Dr^ 
Rawlinson's  MS.  and  the  printed  copies  are  pointed 
out  in  foot-notes,  but  no  further  particulars  are  given. 
A  considerable  number  however  of  the  additions  and 
more  material  alterations  are  found  in  the  blank  pages 
of  a  copy  of  the  fourth  book  of  Camden's  Annales, 
which  is  now  in  the  Cottonian  Library  (Faustina  F. 
viii.  ix.)  ;  and  are  in  the  hand-writing  of  Francis 
Bacon.  I  suppose  that  Camden  had  lent  the  MS.  to 
Bacon  to  read  and  criticise  ;  that  Bacon  had  returned 
it  with  these  passages  suggested  for  insertion  ;  and  that 
they  had  been  inserted  accordingly,  either  by  Camden 
himself  or  by  some  one  to  whom  the  MS.  was  en- 
trusted, in  the  copy  which  came  into  possession  of  Dr. 
Rawlinson.^  At  any  rate  the  manner  in  which  they 
are  entered  in  the  Cottonian  MS.  sufficiently  proves 
that  they  are  of  Bacon's  own  composition,  and  there- 
fore have  a  right  to  a  place  in  this  collection.  And 
though  many  of  them  have  but  little  independent 
value,  I  have  thought  it  better  to  include  them  all ; 
the  rather  because  the  insertion  of  two  or  three  im- 
material words  is  enough  to  show  that  Bacon  had  read 
the  passage,  and  his  inserting  no  more  may  be  taken  as 
a  kind  of  evidence  that  he  had  no  material  correction 
to  suggest.  A  note  on  the  cover  in  Camden's  hand 
states  that  he  began  to  read  the  MS.  over  again  on  the 
18th  of  May,  1620 :  but  at  what  time  Bacon  read  it  I 
know  no  means  of  ascertaining. 

1  Any  one  who  had  access  to  the  Cotton  MS.  might  have  made  the 
alterations  in  his  own  copy. 


ADDITIONS  AND   CORRECTIONS 


IN 


CAMDEN'S   ANNALES 


In  the  opening  of  the  fourth  book  of  his  Annales 
(Hearne's  edition,  p.  593.)  Camden  describes  an  at- 
tempt made  by  some  of  the  Scotch  nobles,  at  the  insti- 
gation of  Spain,  to  seize  the  person  of  the  King,  under 
pretence  of  dehvering  him  from  the  custody  of  Chan- 
cellor Maitland  and  the  Eno-lish  faction.  He  tells  us 
that  the  King  received  intelligence  one  day  when  he 
was  hunting,  that  Bothwell  was  at  hand  on  one  side 
with  troops  of  borderers,  and  Huntley  approaching  on 
the  other  with  a  strong  army  from  the  North  :  upon 
which,  7iil  perterr ef actus ^  sed  animo  et  consiUo  plane 
regio^  (no  way  dismayed,  but  with  spirit  and  judgment 
truly  king-like,)  he  proclaimed  them  traitors,  mustered 
his  faithful  subjects,  and  so  frustrated  the  enterprise  ; 
Bothwell  taking  at  once  to  flight,  and  Huntley  being 
presently  reduced  to  submission. 

The  words  nil  perter7'ef actus ^  &c.  (Faust.  F.  viii.  fo. 
2.)  are  in  Bacon's  hand. 


J 


50  ADDITIONS  AND   CORRECTIONS  IN 


In  his  account  of  the  trial  of  the  Earl  of  Arundel 
(p.  595.)  Camden  had  stated  that  the  Justices  assess- 
ors (^justiciarii  assessores'),  being  asked  by  the  prisoner 
whether  an  indictment  were  lawful  which  contained 
errors  in  the  description  both  of  places  and  times, 
declared  that  those  things  were  not  to  be  regarded,  so 
the  fact  were  proved  (ista  minime  attendenda  esse,  modo 
factum  probetur).  For  these  words  Bacon  substitutes 
(Faust.  F.  viii.  fo.  4.)  ista  regulariter  non  attendenda 
esse,  nisi  criminis  ipsii^s  naturam  varient :  '  that  the  rule 
was,  that  such  points  should  not  be  regarded  unless  the 
nature  of  the  crime  itself  were  affected  by  them.' 

III. 

In  April  1589,  an  expedition  against  Spain  was 
undertaken  by  Sir  John  Norris  and  Sir  Francis  Drake, 
with  the  Queen's  permission,  but  not  at  the  public 
charge.  The  Earl  of  Essex  followed  soon  after,  un- 
known to  the  Queen,  and  joined  the  fleet.  In  allusion 
to  this  circumstance  Camden  had  said  (p.  602.)  that 
he  committed  himself  to  the  sea  without  the  Queen's 
knowledge,  yea  to  the  incurring  of  her  displeasure ; 
for  he  had  no  hope  to  obtain  leave  of  the  Queen  to 
go,  who  was  unwilling  that  any  of  the  prime  nobility 
should  hazard  themselves  in  this  voyage  ;  (^quce  nemi- 
nem  e  primarid  nobilitate  in  hde  expeditione  periclitari 
voluit.') 

Instead  of  this.  Bacon  suggests  (Faust.  F.  viii.  fo. 
9.)  quce  ^  nee  ahsentiam  aut  periculum  ejus  libenter  ad- 

1  The  words  nee  enim  a  Regina  veniam  abeundi  impetrare  speravit,  quce 
are  omitted  from  the  text  by  Hearne ;  who  prints  nee  absentiam  .  .  .  vellet. 


CAMDEN'S  ANNALES. 


51 


missura  esset^  et  expeditionem  ipsam  potius  a  privatorum 
alaeritate  quam  Principis  designatione  susceptam  videri 
vellet :  '  who  would  not  only  have  been  unwilling  to  let 
Essex  himself  be  absent  or  in  danger,  but  wished  be- 
sides that  the  expedition  itself  should  seem  to  have 
been  undertaken  rather  by  the  eagerness  of  private 
persons  than  by  appointment  of  the  sovereign.' 

IV. 

A  little  further  on  (p.  604.),  where  Camden  men- 
tions the  blame  which  was  cast  on  Sir  Francis  Drake 
for  not  supporting  the  land-forces  with  his  fleet,  Bacon 
adds  (Faust.  F.  viii.  fo.  10.)  quique  militid  navali 
bonus^  terrestri  impar  habehatur :  '  that  Drake  was  ac- 
counted an  able  commander  for  naval  warfare,  but  not 
equal  to  warfare  by  land.' 


V. 

The  same  year,  after  describing  the  confusions  in 
France  and  the  conspiracy  against  the  King  which 
ensued  upon  the  murder  of  Henry  Duke  of  Guise,  the 
great  head  of  the  Catholic  party,  Camden  proceeds  to 
say  (p.  608.)  that  hereupon  the  King  was  forced  to 
betake  himself  to  the  Protestants  whom  he  had  per- 
secuted ;  and  the  conspirators  resorting  to  a  detestable 
crime  murdered  him  by  the  hands  of  James  Clement, 
a  monk.  (^Adeo  ut  Rex  necessario  ad  Protestantes  quos 
exagitaverat  eonfageret^  et  isti  ad  detestabile  scelus  cotit 
versi  ilium  per  Jaoobum  Clementem  monachum  parrieidio 

as  an  independent  sentence.  The  correction  is  inserted  in  Rawlinson's 
copy  between  the  lines,  but  without  any  mark  to  show  where  it  is  to  come 
in :  the  writer  not  having  attended  to  the  line  drawn  by  Bacon  under  the 
words  for  which  he  meant  this  sentence  to  be  substituted;  though  the 
direction  is  quite  distinct. 


52  ADDITIONS  AND  CORRECTIONS  IN 

toUerenf)  Here  Bacon  merely  inserts  in  place  of  et 
isti  (Faust.  F.  viii.  fo.  13.)  the  words  unde  duplicatd 
invidid  conjurati  : '  whereby  the  conspirators,  more  en- 
raged than  ever,'  &c. 

Hearne  suggests  in  a  note  that  for  tollerent  we 
should  read  sustulerunt.  Rightly,  no  doubt.  The 
introduction  of  Bacon's  words  alters  the  construction, 
which  the  transcriber  had  overlooked.  But  he  is 
wrong  in  retaining  the  words  et  isti^  which  are  not 
erased  in  the  corrected  volume,  but  which  Bacon  has 
underlined  in  the  manuscript,  clearly  meaning  that 
they  should  be  struck  out  and  his  own  words  substi- 
tuted. 

VI. 

A  few  lines  further  on  (p.  609.)  Camden  had  said 
that  the  Duke  de  Mayenne  was  proclaimed  Lieutenant- 
General  of  the  Crown  of  France.  Bacon  corrects  this 
(Faust.  F.  viii.  fo.  14.)  to  status  et  coronce:  'Lieuten- 
ant-General of  the  State  and  Crown  of  France. ' 

VII. 

In  1591,  Hacket,  a  religious  madman,  was  executed 
for  treason.  Having  spent  his  youth  in  riot  and  pro- 
faneness,  and  ruined  himself  by  prodigality,  Camden 
tells  us  (p.  630.)  that  he  suddenly  assumed  a  character 
of  admirable  sanctity,  spent  all  his  time  in  hearing 
sermons  and  learning  the  Scriptures,  and  pretended 
heavenly  revelations  and  an  extraordinary  mission. 
Here  Bacon  inserts  (Faust.  F.  viii.  fo.  32.)  the  fol- 
lowing curious  passage :  Ante  omnia  vero^  miro  et 
peregrino  quodam  fervore  preces  fundehat^  in  faciem 
concidens,  et  veluti  extasi  correptus  et  cum  Deo  quasi  ex- 
postulans.     Attamen  unum  ex  ejus  asseclis,  cceteris  forte 


CAMDEN'S  ANN  ALES. 


53 


persjncaciorem,  abalienavit  formuld  quddam  orationis 
quce  illi  erat  familiaris.  Nam  cum  omnes  soleant  Dei 
prcesentiam  in  invocando  implorare^  ille  solus  Beum 
rogare  consueverat  ut  a  coetu  precantium  abesse  et  se 
subtrahere  vellet ;  quod  licet  auditores  ad  excessum  quen- 
dam  humilitatis  trahebant,  tamen  potuit  quoque  esse  vox 
plane  Satanica,  a  Dcemone  malo  qui  eum  obsidebat  die- 
tata.  'Above  all,  he  poured  forth  prayers  with  a  certain 
strange  and  outlandish  fervour,  falling  upon  his  face, 
and  rapt  as  it  were  in  extasy,  and  like  a  man  expos- 
tulating with  God.  Moreover  there  was  one  of  his 
followers,  who,  being  clearer  sighted  perhaps  than  the 
rest,  forsook  him  in  consequence  of  a  form  of  speech 
which  was  familiar  to  him.  For  whereas  all  other 
men  are  wont  in  their  invocations  to  implore  God's 
presence,  he  alone  used  to  ask  of  God  that  he  would 
be  pleased  to  absent  and  withdraw  himself  from  the 
assembly  of  those  who  prayed :  which  the  hearers  im- 
puted to  excess  of  humility  ;  and  yet  it  may  have  been 
the  voice  of  Satan  himself,  put  into  Racket's  mouth 
by  the  evil  spirit  that  possessed  him.' 

VIII. 

A  little  further  on  (p.  632.)  where  Camden  says 
that  this  Hacket  liad  persuaded  himself  that  God  had 
ordained  him  to  be  King  of  Europe,  Bacon  inserts 
(Faust.  F.  viii.  fo.  33.)  the  words  homo  ex  vilissima 
foece  Anabaptistarum  renatus  :  '  being  a  man  newborn 
from  the  vilest  dregs  of  the  Anabaptists.' 


IX. 


In  the  next  page,  Camden  describes  him  as  assuming 
to  be  Christ  himself,  and  sending  his  disciples  to  pro- 


54  ADDITIONS   AND   CORRECTIONS  IN 

claim  through  the  city  that  Jesus  Christ  was  come 
with  his  fan  in  his  hand  to  judge  the  worid;  and  if 
any  asked  where  he  was,  to  bring  them  thither,  and  if 
they  would  not  believe,  let  them  kill  him  if  they  could. 
To  which  Bacon  adds  (Faust.  F.  viii.  fo.  33.)  cum 
satis  gnarus  esset  nequissimus  impostor  id  neminem 
propter  legis  metum  ausurum : '  the  wretched  impostor 
knowing  well  enough  that  fear  of  the  law  would  pre- 
vent any  man  from  attempting  such  a  thing.' 


In  1593,  Queen  Elizabeth  had  to  clear  herself  of 
some  slanders  circulated  against  her  in  Germany,  as 
having  excited  the  Turk  to  make  war  upon  Christen- 
dom. In  allusion  to  these  slanders  Camden  had  ob- 
served (p.  660.)  that  she  had  had  no  dealings  with  the 
Turk,  except  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  her  subjects 
to  trade  securely  in  that  empire  :  on  which  account 
(he  adds)  she  had  an  agent  at  Constantinople  to  nego- 
tiate the  merchants'  affairs  at  their  own  expense,  as  had 
also  the  French  King^  the  Polonian,  the  states  of  Venice 
and  others.  This  statement  Bacon  corrects  (Faust. 
F.  viii.  fo.  55.),  by  saying  that  she  had  onlg  an  agent  at 
Constantinople,  whereas  the  French,  the  Polonian,  &c. 
had  ambassadors  there  :  'quo  nomine  Agentem  tantum^ 
qui  negotia  mercatorum  ipsorum  impensis  ageret,  Con- 
stantinopoli  habuit,  cum  Gallus,  Polonus,  Respub.  Ven- 
eta,  et  alii  Legatos  ibidem  haberenW  The  words  in 
italics  are  inserted  by  Bacon. 

XI. 

In  the  beginning  of  1594,  Roderigo  Lopez,  a  Portu- 
guese, employed  by  Queen  Elizabeth  as  physician  of 


CAMDEN'S  ANNALES.  55 

her  liousehold,  was  tried  for  a  conspiracy  (at  the  insti- 
gation of  Spain)  to  poison  her.  He  confessed  that  he 
had  been  dealt  with  by  the  Spaniard  for  that  purpose, 
that  he  had  received  from  an  inward  counsellor  of  the 
King  a  rich  jewel,  had  supplied  him  with  intelligence 
from  time  to  time,  and  had  promised  for  50,000  ducats 
to  poison  her ;  but  maintained  that  he  never  intended 
to  perform  the  promise  and  only  meant  to  cozen  the 
Spaniard  of  his  money.  Camden  had  represented 
him  (p.  676.)  as  stating  in  his  defence  that  he  had 
given  (dondsse)  the  jewel  to  the  Queen.  For  dondsse 
Bacon  substitutes  (Faust.  F.  viii.  fo.  68.)  monstrdsse : 
'  he  had  shewed  it  to  her;'  and  adds  the  following  par- 
ticulars. 

Ad  fidem  fadendam  etiam  ed  usus  est  eircumstantid, 
qw)d  Regince  se  in  syrupo  venenum  exhibiturum  dixisset, 
cum  satis  (ut  aiebat^  notum  esset  Reginam  in  cura  cor- 
poris syrupis  nunquam  usam  fuisse,  sed  ah  iis  mag- 
nopere  abhorrere.  Verum  cum  plane  liqueret  idque  ex 
confessione  proprid^  eum,  cum  monile  illud  Regince  mon- 
strdsset,  nullam  prorsus  veneni  mentionem  fecisse,  sed 
tantum  per  cenigma  Reginam  interrogdsse  annon  frau- 
dem  fraude  tanquam  laqueum  laqueo  intercipere  liceret^ 
(jquod  tamen  ipsum  Regina  ut  prudens  et  cauta  foemina 
rejecisset  sihique  minime  placer e  respondissef),  cumque 
insuper  testatum  esset  eum  serio  de  fugd  faciendd  seque 
ad  cognatum  quendam  et  gentilem  suum  Salomonem 
Judceum^  qui  Constantinopoli  hahitahat,  et  prcedives  erat, 
conferre  deliberdsse,  idque  in  animo  hahuisse,  impostoris 
ei  larva  detracta  est  et  proditoris  merito  adhcesit. 

'In  confirmation  of  this,  he  urged  this  point  —  that 
he  had  told  his  employers  that  he  would  exhibit  the 
poison  to  the  Queen  in  a  syrup ;  whereas  it  was  well 


56  ADDITIONS  AND   CORRECTIONS  IN 

known  (lie  said)  that  she  never  used  syrups  in  her 
diet,  but  had  an  especial  dislike  to  them.  But  when 
it  clearly  appeared  that  in  shewing  that  jewel  to  the 
Queen  he  had  made  no  mention  whatever  of  poison, 
but  had  merely  asked  her  in  a  dark  manner  whether 
it  were  lawful  to  meet  deceit  with  deceit  as  snare  with 
snare  (by  which  however  the  Queen,  as  a  wise  and 
cautious  woman,  was  not  caught,  but  replied  that  she 
by  no  means  approved  of  it),  and  when  moreover  it 
was  given  in  evidence  that  he  had  seriously  thought  of 
taking  flight  and  betake  himself  to  a  kinsman  of  his  own 
race,  one  Solomon  a  Jew,  who  lived  at  Constantinople 
and  was  very  rich,  and  that  he  had  had  a  purpose  so 
to  do,  his  impostor's  mask  fell  off,  leaving  the  traitor's 
behind,  as  was  fit.' 

XII. 

Upon  the  death  of  Ferdinand  Stanley,  Earl  of 
Derby,  in  1594,  there  arose  a  suit  between  his  daugh- 
ters and  liis  brother  WiUiam  who  succeeded  to  the 
earldom,  for  the  dominion  of  the  Isle  of  Man.  In 
the  discussion  of  the  title  a  flaw  was  detected  by  the 
Crown  Lawyers  which  enabled  them  to  put  in  a  claim 
on  behalf  of  the  Queen.  But  the  Queen  (says  Cam- 
den, p.  687.)  waived  that  right,  and  an  agreement 
was  made  between  the  uncle  and  his  nieces.  Here 
Bacon  inserts  (Faust.  F.  viii.  fo.  76.)  the  words  ut 
appareret  illud  potius  ad  competitores  in  ordinem  redi- 
gendos^  quani  ad  rigorem  aliqiiem  in  medium  adductum 
fuisse :  '  to  shew  that  the  claim  was  put  in  with  a 
view  of  bringing  the  competitors  to  reason  rather  than 
of  any  rigour.' 


CAMDEN'S   ANNALES.  57 


XIII. 

In  the  autumn  of  1599,  England  was  alarmed  with 
rumours  of  a  Spanish  fleet  approaching,  and  an  army 
was  hastily  levied  as  in  defence  of  the  kingdom.  But 
there  was  no  such  thing.  It  came  to  light  some  year 
and  a  half  after,  that  about  that  time  the  Earl  of  Essex, 
then  commanding  a  great  army  in  Ireland  and  in  high 
discontent  with  the  Queen,  was  seriously  thinking  of 
crossing  over  to  Wales  with  2000  men,  and  marching 
up  to  London  with  such  additional  forces  as  would 
probably  have  joined  him  by  the  way,  and  so  over- 
powering his  enemies.  Camden  seems  to  have  sus- 
pected that  the  rumour  of  the  Spanish  fleet  had  been 
got  up  by  the  Government  in  order  to  provide  them- 
selves against  this  danger  ;  but  leaves  it  doubtful. 
"  Whether  the  Queen  had  any  secret  intimation  of 
this  (he  says)  I  know  not.  Certain  it  is  that  at  that 
very  time,  upon  uncertain  rumours  eagerly  credited 
of  a  Spanish  fleet  prepared,  6000  of  the  best-trained 
infantry  were  raised  at  London,  of  which  3000  were 
to  guard  the  Queen's  person  and  the  rest  to  be  ready 
for  all  occasions  ;  while  from  the  countries  round  about 
a  more  numerous  and  carefully  selected  army  was  sent 
for :  of  which  Charles  Howard,  Earl  of  Nottingham, 
Admiral  of  England,  was  made  commander-in-chief, 
with  full  authority  as  well  against  foreign  enemies  as 
domestic  rebels.  But  this  army  was  within  a  few  days 
discharged." 

Bacon  seems  to  have  had  less  doubt  as  to  the  secret 
history  of  this  rumour  and  levy — may  indeed  have  had 
positive  knowledge  of  the  fact  —  and  proposes  (Faust. 
F.  ix.  fo.  33.)  to  substitute  the  following  passage. 


58  ADDITIONS   AND   CORRECTIONS  IN 

Atque  hoc  Regince  occulto  aliquo  indicio  innotaisse, 
probabile  est.  Etenim  eodem  tempore  increbuerunt  ru- 
mores  et  per  totum  regimm  pervagati  sunt  (jquales  spar- 
gi  Solent  cum  Principe  volente  volitant),  adesse  classem 
Hispanam  potentem  et  optime  instructam,  ad  oras  occi- 
dentales  regni  conspectam  esse^  neque  quam  partem  pete- 
rent  certum  esse,  Itaque  delectus  acriter  ubique  habiti, 
provincice  maritimce  armari  et  in  procinctu  esse  jussce, 
nuntii  assidue  ad  aulam  missi^  quinetiam  exercitus  regius 
8id)  duce  Comite  Notingamice  Admirallo  Anglice  con- 
scriptus.  Evulgata  etiam  fabella  quce  vel  prudentiores 
caper e  et  f oiler e  posset.  Regent  Hispanum^  expeditionis 
in  Lusitaniam  cui  idem  Essexius  adfuerat  nx)n  oblitum, 
cum  certior  /actus  esset  tantum  exercitum  ad  motus  Hy- 
bemicos  compescendos  apparari  sub  duce  tarn  eminenti  et 
Jlorenti,  in  suspicionem  venisse  hcec  prcetextu  rerum  Hy- 
bernicarum  ad  Hispanice  partem  aliquam  invadendam 
designata  esse.,  atque  idcirco  in  defensionem  regnorum 
suorum  classem  numerosam  atque  etiam  copias  terrestres 
pardsse.  Postquam  autem  comperisset  exercitum  revera 
in  Hibemiam  transmissum  esse.,  atque  illis  rebus  implici- 
tum  ;  submonitum  a  consilio  suo,  ut  cum  tantam  classem 
et  copias  magnis  imjyensis  et  rerum  motu  jam  collegisset 
et  paratas  haberet,  ne  eas  inutiliter  dimitteret^  sed  in  An- 
gliam  impressionem  faceret,  eo  magis  quod  flos  militice 
Anglicance  cum  Essexio  transportatus  esset.,  et  Regina 
nihil  tale  eo  tempore  expectaret.  Hcec  omnia  eo  Jiebant, 
ut  Essexius.,  certior  f actus  regnum  in  armis  esse.,  ab  ali- 
quo conatu  exercitum  Hybemicum  in  Angliam  transpor- 
tandi  injecto  metu  desisteret.  Attamen  hcec  Regince 
consilia  etiam  vulgo  in  su&pidonem  venerant  et  in  pejo- 
rem  partem  accipiebantur.,  ut  etiam  dicteriis  non  abstine^ 
rent,  cum  dicerent  anno  octogesimx)  octavo  ah  Hispania 


CAMDEN'S  ANNALES.  59 

appuU%se  classem  illam  invincihilem^  at  hoc  anno  alteram 
classem  invisihilem^^  atque  mussarent^  si  hijmmodi  ludi 
florales  a  cohmUo  Anglice  ineunte  Maio  celebrati  fidssenty 
magis  congruum  existiniari  potuisse;  verum  ut  pleba  a 
7nesse  sua  avoearetiir  (erat  enim  adultus  Autumnu%) 
nimis  serias  ineptias  esse, 

'  And  it  is  probable  that  the  Queen  had  some  secret 
intimation  of  this  design.  For  just  at  that  time  there 
grew  up  rumours  (such  as  are  commonly  spread  when 
the  sovereign  is  willing  they  should  circulate)  and 
went  abroad  all  over  the  land,  that  a  miMitv  and  well 
appohited  Spanisli  fleet  was  at  hand,  that  it  had  been 
seen  on  the  western  coast,  and  was  doubtful  for  what 
part  it  was  designed.  Thereupon  musters  were  dili- 
gently held  on  all  sides,  the  coast  counties  were  or- 
dered to  arm  themselves  and  be  in  readiness,  couriers 
Avere  sent  continually  to  the  court,  nay  a  royal  army, 
under  command  of  the  Earl  of  Nottingham,  Admiml 
of  England,  was  levied.  Moreover  a  tjile  was  given  out 
by  which  even  the  wiser  sort  might  well  be  taken  in : 
viz.  that  the  King  of  Spain,  who  had  not  forgotten  the 
voyage  to  Portugal  in  which  the  same  Essex  had  been 
engaged,  when  he  was  infonned  that  so  great  an  ai'my 
had  been  set  forth  to  suppress  the  Irish  rebelHon,  under 
so  eminent  and  prosperous  a  commander,  fell  into  a 
suspicion  that  it  was  designed,  under  pretext  of  Irish 
matters,  to  invade  some  part  of  Spain :  and  therefore 
got  together  a  numerous  fleet  and  also  land  forces  for 
the  defence  of  his  own  dominions :  but  that  when  he 
found  that  the  army  was  in  truth  sent  over  into  Ireland 

1  The  words  at  hoc  —  invisibUem  are  omitted  in  Hearne's  edition,  p.  795., 
having  been  omitted  by  the  transcriber  of  the  corrections  in  Rawlinson's 
cop3'. 


60  ADDITIONS  AND   CORRECTIONS  IN 

and  occupied  with  the  work  there,  he  was  advised  by 
his  council,  seeing  that  he  had  gathered  together  such  a 
fleet  and  force  with  great  charge  and  trouble  and  had 
them  ready,  not  to  discharge  them  without  doing  some 
service  ;  but  to  strike  a  blow  at  England ;  the  rather 
because  the  flower  of  the  English  army  had  been  sent 
over  with  Essex,  and  the  Queen  expected  nothing 
of  the  kind  at  that  time.  Now  all  this  was  done  to 
the  end  that  Essex,  hearing  that  the  kingdom  Avas  in 
arms,  might  be  deterred  from  any  attempt  to  bring  the 
Irish  army  over  into  England.  And  yet  these  devices 
of  the  Queen  were  even  by  the  common  people  sus- 
pected and  taken  in  bad  part ;  insomuch  that  they 
forbore  not  from  scoffs,  saying  that  in  the  year  '88 
Spain  had  sent  an  Invincible  Armada  against  us  and 
now  she  had  sent  an  Invisible  Armada  ;  and  muttering 
that  if  the  council  had  celebrated  this  kind  of  May- 
game  in  the  beginning  of  May,  it  might  have  been 
thought  more  suitable,  but  to  call  the  people  away 
from  the  harvest  for  it  (for  it  was  now  full  autumn) 
was  too  serious  a  jest.' 

The  substance  of  this  story  is  given  by  Fuller  in 
his  Church  History  (ix.  41.)  on  the  authority  of 
Camden's  MS.  Life  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  which  it 
seems  he  had  seen.  It  is  the  more  worthy  of  no- 
tice because  any  one  collecting  the  history  of  the 
time  from  the  documents  now  remaining  in  the  State 
Paper  Office  might  easily  conclude  that  the  danger, 
or  at  least  the  alarm,  was  a  real  one.  For  though 
the  occasion  was  pretended  the  preparations  were  in 
earnest. 

Fuller  makes  a  remark  upon  the  last  sentence,  which 
is  strange  for  a  man  of  his  judgment.     "  My  author 


CAMDEN'S  ANN  ALES.  61 

addeth  (he  says)  that  people  affirmed  that  such  May- 
games  had  been  fitter  in  the  spring  (when  sports  were 
used  amongst  the  Romans  to  Flora)  and  not  in  the 
autumn  when  people  were  seriously  employed  to  fetch 
in  the  fruits  of  the  earth.  But  by  his  leave,  these  ex- 
pressions flow  from  critics^  and  fly  far  above  the  capa- 
cities of  country men.^^  Here  Fuller  seems  to  have 
been  deceived  by  his  own  learning,  and  to  have  for 
gotten  that  the  May-game  was  an  incident  of  spring 
in  England  as  well  as  at  Rome.  The  incongruity  of 
May-games  (liidi  florales  means  no  more)  in  harvest 
time,  must  have  been  intelligible  enough  to  any  Eng- 
lishman. 

XIV. 

The  only  remaining  additions  or  coiTections  which  1 
find  in  Bacon's  hand  occur  in  the  trial  of  the  Earl  of 
Essex  for  treason  in  February  1600-1.  They  are  few 
and  slight,  but  sufficient  to  shew  that  he  had  read  that 
part  of  the  history  with  care.  As  it  stands  in  Hearne's 
edition,  in  which  these  corrections  are  introduced,  it 
may  be  regarded  as  having  in  a  manner  received  his 
sanction. 

1. 

Camden  had  represented  Bacon  himself  (p.  853.)  as 
saying  at  the  trial  (in  answer  to  Essex's  assertion  that 
the  violence  of  Cobham,  Cecil,  and  Raleigh  had  driven 
him  to  take  up  arms  in  necessary  self-defence)  that 
Cobham,  Cecil,  and  Raleigh  were  such  sincere  honest 
men,  and  had  such  large  estates  (^adeo  sincere  prohos 
esse^  et  ah  opihus  instructos'),  that  they  would  never 
overthrow  their  estates  and  hopes  by  committing  such 


62  ADDITIONS  AND  CORRECTIONS  IN 

a  crime.  For  the  words  adeo  sineere  probos,  ^c.  Bacon 
substitutes  (Faust.  F.  ix.  fo.  82.)  tales  esse  et  animo  et 
fortunis:  'were  of  such  a  condition  both  in  mind  and  in 
fortunes,  that  they  would  never'  &c.  Which  agrees 
with  the  summary  of  the  argument  as  given  in  the 
Declaration  of  Treasons.  "  Then  it  was  shewed  how 
improbable  it  was,  considering  that  my  Lord  Cobham 
and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  were  men  whose  estates  were 
better  settled  and  established  than  to  overthrow  their 
fortunes  by  such  a  crime." 

2. 

In  the  next  sentence  Camden  had  represented  him 
as  observing  that  the  fictions  put  forward  by  Essex  of 
a  plot  against  his  life,  fell  to  the  ground  by  reason  of 
their  inconsistency  and  variety  —  inasmuch  as  Essex, 
not  keeping  to  one  story,  cried  out  at  one  time  that  he 
was  to  have  been  murdered  in  his  bed,  at  another  in  a 
boat,  at  another  by  the  Jesuits  ;  and  likewise  by  the 
vanity  of  them  (neenon  e  vanitate'),  since  he  exclaimed 
that  the  kingdom  of  England  was  to  have  been  sold  to 
the  Spaniard.  For  neenon  e  vanitate,  cum  exclamaret 
^c.  Bacon  substitutes  Quinetiam  subinde  exclamaret 
Sj-c.  (nay  and  he  cried  out  presently  after  &c.)  His 
argument,  as  represented  both  in  the  contemporary 
reports  of  the  trial  and  in  the  Declaration,  was  not  that 
the  story  about  the  kingdom  being  to  be  sold  to  the 
Spaniard  was  so  vain  a  fiction  as  to  shake  the  credit  of 
the  whole  plea  (the  vanity  of  it  was  proved  by  other 
evidence),  but  that  it  was  irrelevant  to  the  point  in 
question,  which  was  the  taking  up  arms  in  self-defence 
against  private  enemies. 


I 


CAMDEN'S   ANNALES.  63 

3. 

Camden  had  represented  him  as  adding,  that  it  was 
a  famihar  thing  to  traitors  (^proditorihus)  to  strike  at 
princes  not  directly  but  through  the  sides  of  their  min- 
isters. For  proditorihus  Bacon  substitutes  defectionem 
et  rebellionem  tentantibus :  'attempters  of  revolt  and 
rebellion.* 

4. 

In  the  next  sentence,  Camden  had  represented  him 
as  taxing  Essex  with  deep  dissimulation,  as  if  he  had 
put  on  the  mask  of  piety  ;  and  likening  him  to  Pisis- 
tratus  of  Athens,  who  had  gashed  his  body,  &c.  (JEs- 
sexium  profundce  dissimulationis  arguit,  quasi  pietatis 
larvam  induerat :  et  JPisistrato  Atheniensi  assimilate  qui 
corpus  ^c.)  For  this  Bacon  substitutes  Essexii  factum 
profundce  dissimulationis  arguit,  quale  fuit  illud  Pisis- 
trati  Atheniensis,  qui  corpus  ^  c.  '  He  taxes  the  action  of 
Essex  with  deep  dissimulation  ;  comparing  it  to  that  of 
Pisistratus,'  &c.  There  is  nothing  about  the  "  mask 
of  piety  "  either  in  the  report  or  in  the  Declaration. 
Such  an  imputation  would  indeed  have  been  quite  from 
the  purpose  ;  for  Pisistratus's  object  was  not  to  gain  a 
reputation  for  piety,  but  to  make  people  think  that  he 
was  in  danger  of  his  life.  The  report  of  the  trial  says, 
"  I  cannot  resemble  your  proceedings  more  rightly  than 
to  one  Pisistratus,"  &c.  And  in  the  Declaration,  the 
substance  of  the  argument  is  thus  given,  "  It  was  said 
....  that  this  action  of  his  resembled  the  action  of 
Pisistratus  of  Athens,  that  proceeded  so  far  in  this 
kind  of  fiction  and  dissimulation,  as  he  lanced  his  own 
body,  &c." 


64  ADDITIONS  AND   COERECTIONS  IN 

5. 

At  a  later  stage  of  the  trial,  Essex  argued  that  if  he 
had  meant  anything  else  than  his  own  defence  against 
private  persons,  he  would  not  have  gone  forth  with  so 
small  a  force  and  so  slightly  armed.  To  which  (Cam- 
den had  added,  p.  856.)  Bacon  replied,  "  This  was 
cunningly  done  of  you,  who  placed  all  your  hope  in  the 
citizens'  arms,  expecting  them  to  arm  both  yourself  and 
your  party  and  to  take  arms  in  your  behalf;  imitating 
herein  the  Duke  of  Guise,  &c.  Qvafre  hoc  a  te  factum^ 
qui  in  civium  armis  spent  totam  defixisti,  ut  te  tuosque 
armarent  et  pro  te  arma  capei^ent ;  imitatus  in  hoc  Griii- 
sium,  qui  Lutetiam  ^c.)  For  this  Bacon  substitutes 
(in  accordance,  as  before,  with  the  contemporary  re- 
ports and  with  the  Declaration)  "  Cui  Baconus  :  at  in 
hoc  imitatus  es  recens  exemplum  Gruisii,  qui  Lutetiam 
non  ita  pridcm  cum  pauculis  ingressus,  cives  nihilominus 
ad  arma  ita  concitavit  ut  Regem  urbe  exturbaret." 
'But  in  this  you  imitated  the  recent  example  of  the 
Duke  of  Guise,  who,  no  long  time  since,  though  he 
entered  Paris  with  a  small  company,  yet  he  roused  the 
citizens  to  take  up  arms,  in  such  sort  that  the  King  was 
obliged  to  fly  the  city.'  The  words  in  italic  are  inserted 
in  Bacon's  hand. 

In  Hearne's  edition  nihilominus  is  inserted  after 
Lutetiam ;  which  is  wrong.  When  I  examined  the 
volume  in  the  Bodleian  Library  into  which  these  cor- 
rections have  been  transcribed,  I  neglected  to  observe 
whether  the  same  mistake  occurs  there.  But  as  that 
volume  was  printed  after  Camden's  death,  and  the  cor- 
rections may  all  have  been  made  from  the  Cotton  MS., 
we  are  so  far  without  evidence  that  they  had  received 


CAMDEN'S  ANN  ALES.  65 

Camden's  own  sanction.  That  they  were  derived  from 
a  fair  copy  in  which  they  had  been  incorporated  under 
his  superintendence,  seems  to  me  improbable,  consider- 
ing the  nature  of  the  errors  into  which  the  transcriber 
has  fallen  (see  above,  pp.  50,  52,  59.)  ;  all  of  which 
materially  injure  the  sense  and  construction. 


ESSAYS  OR  COUNSELS 
CIVIL  AND  MORAL. 


PEEFACE. 


Among  the  innumerable  editions  of  Bacon's  Essays 
that  have  been  pubHshed,  there  are  only  four  which,  as 
authorities  for  the  text,  have  any  original  or  indepen- 
dent value  ;  namely  those  published  by  Bacon  himself 
in  1597,  in  1612,  and  in  1625  ;  and  the  Latin  version 
published  by  Dr.  Rawley  in  1638.  The  rest  are 
merely  reprints  of  one  or  other  of  these. 

The  edition  of  1597  contained  ten  essays,  together 
with  the  Meditationes  Sacrce^  and  the  Colours  of  Good 
and  Evil.  That  of  1612,  a  small  volume  in  8vo.  con- 
tained essays  only ;  but  the  number  was  increased  to 
thirty-eight,  of  which  twenty-nine  were  quite  new,  and 
all  the  rest  more  or  less  corrected  and  enlarged.  That 
of  1625,  a  4to.  and  one  of  the  latest  of  Bacon's  publi- 
cations, contained  fifty-eight  essays,  of  which  twenty 
were  new,  and  most  of  the  rest  altered  and  enlarged. 

The  gradual  growth  of  this  volume,  containing  as  it 
does  the  earliest  and  the  latest  fruits  of  Bacon's  obser- 
vation in  that  field  in  which  its  value  has  been  most 
approved  by  universal  and  undiminished  popularity, 
is  a  matter  of  considerable  interest ;  and  as  the  suc- 
cessive changes  are  not  such  as  could  be  represented 
by  a  general  description  or  conveniently  specified  in 
foot-notes,  I  have  thought  it  best  to  reprint  the  two 


70  PREFACE. 

first  editions  entire,  and  add  them  in  an  appendix. 
Considering  also  that,  although  it  has  been  thought 
expedient  throughout  the  text  of  this  edition  of  Bacon's 
works  to  modernize  the  spelling,  it  may  nevertheless  be 
convenient  to  the  reader  to  have  a  specimen  of  the 
orthography  of  Bacon's  time,  I  have  taken  this  oppor- 
tunity of  giving  one  ;  and  preserved  the  original  spell- 
ing throughout  both  these  reprints. 

I  have  also  been  able  to  supply  from  a  manuscript  in 
the  British  Museum  evidence  of  another  stage  in  the 
growth  of  this  volume,  intermediate  between  the  edi- 
tions of  1597  and  1612 ;  of  which  manuscript,  in 
connexion  with  the  reprint  of  the  latter,  a  complete 
account  will  be  given. 

The  text  of  the  Essays  is  taken  of  course  from  the 
edition  of  1625 ;  a  correct  representation  of  which  is 
nearly  all  that  a  modern  reader  requires.  The  only 
points  in  which  the  audience  to  which  they  now  ad- 
dress themselves  stands  in  a  diflPerent  position  towards 
them  from  that  to  which  they  were  originally  ad- 
dressed, appear  to  be,  —  first,  knowledge  of  Latin, 
which  is  probably  a  less  general  accomplishment 
among  the  readers  of  books  now  than  it  was  then ; 
and  secondly,  familiarity  with  the  ordinary  language 
of  that  day,  in  which  some  expressions  have  worn  out 
of  use  with  time,  and  some  have  acquired  new  mean- 
ings. To  meet  these  changes,  I  have  in  the  first  place 
translated  the  Latin  quotations,  in  the  same  manner 
and  upon  the  same  principle  which  I  have  explained 
at  length  in  my  preface  to  the  Advancement  of  Learn- 
ing (Vol.  VI.  of  this  edition)  ;  and  in  the  second  place, 
I  have  added  an  explanatory  note  wherever  I  have  ob- 
served any  expression  which  a  modern  reader  is  likely 


PREFACE.  71 

to  misunderstand  or  not  to  understand.  But  I  have 
not  attempted  to  develop  allusions,  or  to  canvass  his- 
torical statements,  or  to  point  out  inaccuracies  of 
quotation,  where  the  difference  does  not  affect  the 
argument,  —  still  less  to  entertain  the  reader  with  dis- 
courses of  my  own  ;  conceiving  that  the  worth  of 
writings  of  this  kind  depends  in  great  part  upon  the 
rejection  of  superfluities,  and  that  an  annotator  who  is 
too  diligent  in  producing  all  that  he  can  find  to  say 
about  his  text  runs  a  great  risk  of  merely  encumbering 
the  reader  with  the  very  matter  from  which  it  was  the 
author's  labour  to  disembarrass  him.  I  have  even  had 
my  doubts  whether  in  writings  which  remain  as  fi'esh 
as  these,  the  very  insertion  of  references  to  passages 
quoted  be  not  an  unwelcome  interruption  and  an  un- 
warrantable liberty.  When  a  modem  writer  intro- 
duces, for  ornament  or  illustration  or  impression,  a 
line  from  Virgil  or  Milton,  he  never  thinks  of  adding 
a  reference  to  the  book  and  verse ;  and  I  suppose  that 
Mr.  Singer  would  not  look  upon  an  asterisk  and  a  foot- 
note, with  Hor.  Carm.  I.  12.  45.,  as  any  improvement 
to  the  elegant  motto  which  occupies  the  blank  page 
fronting  the  title  of  his  very  elegant  edition  of  these 
Essays.  Bacon's  philosophical  works  stand  in  many 
respects  in  a  different  position.  Their  value  is  in  great 
part  historical  and  antiquarian.  They  no  longer  speak 
to  us  as  to  contemporaries.  To  understand  their  just 
import,  we  must  be  carried  back  to  the  time,  and  it  is 
of  importance  to  know  what  books  were  then  in  esti- 
mation and  what  authors  were  familiarly  appealed  to, 
and  carried  weight  as  vouchers.  The  Essays,  on  the 
contrary,  have  for  us  precisely  the  same  sort  of  interest 
which  they  had  for  the  generation  to  which  they  were 


72  PREFACE. 

immediately  addressed ;  they  "  come  home  to  men's 
business  and  bosoms  "  just  in  the  same  way  ;  they  ap- 
peal to  the  same  kind  of  experience ;  the  allusions  and 
citations  are  still  familiar,  and  produce  the  same  kind 
of  impression  on  the  imagination.  So  that  I  do  not 
see  why  the  reason  which  induced  Bacon  to  cite  an 
ancient  saying,  a  tradition  of  the  poets,  an  observation 
of  one  of  the  fathers,  or  a  sentence  from  some  classical 
writer,  without  specifying  the  volume  and  page  where 
he  found  it,  should  not  still  be  held  a  reason  for  leaving 
them  to  produce  the  effect  which  he  intended,  unin- 
cumbered with  a  piece  of  information  which  I  suppose 
he  thought  superfluous  or  inconvenient. 

The  Latin  translation  of  the  Essays,  published  by 
Dr.  Rawley  in  1638  among  the  Opera  Moralia  et  Oivi- 
lia,  under  the  weightier  ^  title  of  Sermones  Fideles  sive 
Interiora  Rerum^  has  (as  I  said)  an  original  and  inde- 
pendent value.  Whether  any  of  them  were  actually 
translated  by  Bacon  himself,  or  how  far  he  superin- 
tended the  work,  it  seems  impossible  to  know.  Mr. 
Singer  indeed  represents  them,  on  the  authority  of  the 
title,2  as  having  been  put  into  Latin  by  Bacon  himself 
prceterquam  in  paucis : "  but  the  words  which  he 
quotes  occur  in  the  title  not  of  the  Sermones  Fideles, 
but  of  the  whole  volume,  which  contains  four  other 
works  ;  the  Sermones  Fideles  forming  less  than  a  fourth 
of  the  whole  :   so  that  for  any  thing  these  words  imply 

1  Deinde  sequetur  libellus  ille  quern  vestra  lingua  Saggi  Morali  appel- 
lastis.  Verum  illi  libro  nomen  gravius  impono:  scilicet  ut  inscribatur 
Sermones  Fideles,  sive  Interiora  Rerum.  —  Bacon's  Letter  to  Fulgentio. 

2  "  In  the  year  1638,  Dr.  Rawley,  who  had  been  Bacon's  chaplain,  pub- 
lished a  folio  volume,  containing,  amongst  other  works  in  Latin,  a  transla- 
tion of  the  Essays,  under  the  title  of  '  Sermones  Fideles,  ab  ipso  Honoratis- 
simo  Auctore,  praeterquam  in  paucis,  Latinitate  donati.'  "  — Pref.  p.  xvi. 


PREFACE.  73 

they  may  themselves  have  been  among  the  things  ex- 
cepted.^ As  it  is  certain  however  that  Bacon  himself 
regarded  the  Latin  version  as  that  in  which  they  were 
to  live,  we  may  be  sure  that  he  took  care  to  have  it 
properly  done :  only  as  it  was  not  published  till  twelve 
years  after  his  death,  we  cannot  be  sure  that  it  was  all 
finished  before  he  died.  Several  hands  are  said  to  have 
been  employed  in  the  work,  and  in  the  absence  of  all 
specific  information,  it  is  not  improbable  that  there 
are  parts  of  it  which  he  did  not  live  to  see  completed. 
Taken  with  this  caution  however,  the  Latin  translation 
must  be  accepted  as  a  work  of  authority,  and  in  one 
respect  of  superior  authority  to  the  original,  because  of 
later  date.  I  have  therefore  treated  it  in  the  same  way 
as  the  translation  of  the  history  of  Henry  the  Seventh ; 
see  Vol.  XL  p.  19. 

I  am  not  aware  that  any  such  value  belongs  to  any 
of  tlie  translations  into  modern  languages.  An  Italian 
translation  of  the  Essays  and  the  De  Sapientia  Vete- 
rum  published  in  London  in  1618,  with  a  dedicatory 
letter  from  Tobie  Matthew  to  Cosmo  de'  Medici,  may 
be  presumed  to  have  been  made  with  Bacon's  sanction ; 
both  because  Matthew  was  so  intimate  a  friend,  and 
because  it  includes  one  essay  which  had  not  then  been 
published,^  as  well  as  a  large  extract  from  the  letter  to 

1  Francisci  Baconi operum  moralium  et  civilium  tomus. 

Historiam  Eegni  Hen  rid  Septimi  Regis  Anglice. 
Sermones  Fideles,  sive  InteHora  Rerum. 
Tractatum  de  Sapientia  Veterum. 
Diahgum  de  Belh  Sacro. 

^  Et  Novam  Atlantidem. 
Ab  ipso  Honoratissimo  Auctore,  praeterquam  in  paucis,  Latinitate  do- 
riatus. 

2  Mr.  Singer  says  two:   but  one  of  those  he  quotes,  —  the  Essay  "Of 
Honour  and  Reputation," — will  be  found  in  the  edition  of  1597. 


Qui  con- 
tinet 


T4  PREFACE. 

Prince  Henry  which  Bacon  had  intended  to  prefix  to 
the  edition  of  1612,  but  was  prevented  by  his  death. 
But  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  Bacon  had  any- 
thing more  to  do  with  it.  It  is  true  that  Andrea  CioH, 
who  by  Cosmo's  direction  brought  out  a  new  and  re- 
vised edition  of  this  volume  at  Florence  in  1619,  seems 
at  first  sight  to  speak  of  the  translation  as  if  it  were 
Bacon's  own  composition  —  (ma  non  ho  gia  voluto  alte- 
rare  alcuna  di  quelle  parole,  che  forse  nella  lingua 
nostra  non  appariscono  interamente  proprie  del  senso, 
a  che  sono  state  in  detta  Opera  destinate,  per  non  torre 
all '  Autore  la  gloria^  che  merita  di  ha/vere  cod  hen  saputo 
esprimere  i  suoi  Concetti  in  Idioma  altretanto  diverso 
dal  suo,  quanto  d  lontana  da  questa  nostra  la  sua  Re- 
gione ;)  —  but  the  supposition  is  hardly  reconcilable 
with  the  words  of  Matthew's  dedicatory  letter  (non 
puo  mancar  la  scusa  h  chi  s'  ^.  ingegnato  tradur  li  con- 
cetti di  questo  Autore,  &c.)  ;  and  in  the  absence  of  all 
other  evidence  is  too  improbable  to  be  believed.  Nor 
do  Cioli's  words  necessarily  imply  more  than  that  the 
translator  was  an  Englishman.  That  the  translation 
was  not  the  work  of  an  Italian,  —  and  therefore  not 
(according  to  Mr.  Singer's  conjecture)  by  Father  Ful- 
gentio,  —  they  afford  evidence  which  may  be  considered 
conclusive. 


THE 


ESSAYES  OR  COUJSTSELS, 

CIYILL    AND    MORALL, 


OP 


FRANCIS  LO.  VERULAM,  VISCOUNT  ST.  ALBAN. 


NEWLY    ENLARGED. 


LONDON: 

Printed  by  John  Haviland,  for  Hanna  Barrett  and  Richard  Whitaker, 

And  are  to  be  sold  at  the  sign  of  the  King's  Head,  in 

Paul's  Churchyard. 

1625. 


THE    EPISTLE    DEDICATORY. 


To  the  Right  Honourable  my  very  good  Lo.  the  Duke 
of  Buckingham  his  Grace,  Lo.  High  Admiral  of 
England. 

Excellent  Lo. 

Salomon  says,  A  good  name  is  as  a  precious  ointment ; 
and  I  assure  myself,  such  will  your  Grace's  name  be 
with  posterity.  For  your  fortune  and  merit  both  have 
been  eminent.  And  you  have  planted  things  that  are 
like  to  last.  I  do  now  publish  my  Essays  ;  which,  of 
all  my  other  works  have  been  most  current ;  for  that, 
as  it  seems,  they  come  home  to  men's  business  and 
bosoms.  I  have  enlarged  them  both  in  number  and 
weight ;  so  that  they  are  indeed  a  new  work.  I 
thought  it  therefore  agreeable  to  my  affection  and 
obligation  to  your  Grace,  to  prefix  your  name  before 
them,  both  in  English  and  in  Latin.^  For  I  do  con- 
ceive that  the  Latin  volume  of  them  (being  in  the 
universal  language)  may  last  as  long  as  books  last. 
My  Instauration  I  dedicated  to  the  King  ;  my  History 
of  Henry  the  Seventh  (which  I  have  now  also  trans- 

1  Tarn  in  editione  Anglicd,  quam  in  Latind. 


78 


THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 


lated  into  Latin),  and  my  portions  of  Natural  History, 
to  the  Prince ;  and  these  I  dedicate  to  your  Grace  ; 
being  of  the  best  fruits  that  by  the  good  encrease 
which  God  gives  to  my  pen  and  labours  I  could  yield. 
God  lead  your  Grace  by  the  hand. 

Your  Grace's  most  obliged  and 

faithful  seruant, 

FR.  St.  ALBAN. 


THE    TABLE 


1. 

Of  Truth. 

24. 

Of  Innovations. 

2. 

Of  Death. 

25. 

Of  Dispatch. 

3. 

Of  Unity  in  Religion. 

26. 

Of  Seeming  Wise. 

4. 

Of  Revenge. 

27. 

Of  Friendship. 

5. 

Of  Adversity. 

28. 

Of  Expense. 

6. 

Of  Simulation  and  Dissim- 

29. 

Of  the  True  Greatness  of 

ulation. 

Kingdoms  and  Estates. 

7. 

Of  Parents  and  Children. 

30. 

Of  Regiment  of  Health. 

8. 

Of  Marriage    and    Single 

3L 

Of  Suspicion. 

Life. 

32. 

Of  Discourse. 

9. 

Of  Envy. 

33. 

Of  Plantations. 

10. 

Of  Love. 

34. 

Of  Riches. 

11. 

Of  Great  Place. 

35. 

Of  Prophecies. 

12. 

Of  Boldness. 

36. 

Of  Ambition. 

13. 

Of  Goodness,  and  Goodness 

37. 

Of  Masks  and  Triumphs. 

of  Nature. 

38. 

Of  Nature  in  Men. 

14. 

Of  Nobility. 

39. 

Of  Custom  and  Education. 

15. 

Of  Seditions  and  Troubles. 

40. 

Of  Fortune. 

16. 

Of  Atheism. 

41. 

Of  Usury. 

17. 

Of  Superstition. 

42. 

Of  Youth  and  Age.       - 

18. 

Of  Travel. 

43. 

Of  Beauty. 

19. 

Of  Empire. 

44. 

Of  Deformity. 

20. 

Of  Counsel. 

45. 

Of  Building. 

21. 

Of  Delays. 

46. 

Of  Gardens. 

22. 

Of  Cunning. 

47. 

Of  Negotiating. 

23. 

Of  Wisdom   for   a   Man's 

48. 

Of  Followers  and  Friends. 

self. 

49. 

Of  Suitors. 

80  THE  TABLE. 

50.  Of  Studies.  54.  Of  Vain  Glory. 

51.  Of  Faction.  55.  Of  Honour  and  Reputation. 

52.  Of   Ceremonies  and    R&-     56.  Of  Judicature. 

spects.  57.  Of  Anger. 

53.  Of  Praise.  58.  Of  Vicissitude  of  Things. 


ESSAYS  OR  COUNSELS 

CIVIL  AND  MORAL. 


I.  Of  Truth, 


WHAT  is  Truth f  said  jesting  Pilate;  and  would 
not  stay  for  an  answer.  Certainly  there  be  that 
delight  in  giddiness,^  and  count  it  a  bondage  to  fix  a 
belief;  affecting  free-will  in  thinking,  as  well  as  in  act- 
ing. And  though  the  sects  of  philosophers  of  that 
kind  be  gone,  yet  there  remain  certain  discoursing 
wits  2  which  are  of  the  same  veins,  though  there  be 
not  so  much  blood  in  them  as  was  in  those  of  the  an- 
cients. But  it  is  not  only  the  difficulty  and  labour 
which  men  take  in  finding  out  of  truth  ;  nor  again  that 
when  it  is  found  it  imposeth  upon  men's  thoughts ;  ^ 
that  doth  bring  lies  in  favour ;  but  a  natural  though 
corrupt  love  of  the  lie  itself.  One  of  the  later  school 
of  the  Grecians  examineth  the  matter,  and  is  at  a  stand 
to  think  what  should  be  in  it,  that  men  should  love 
lies,  where  neither  they  make  for  pleasure,  as  with 
poets,  nor  for  advantage,  as  with  the  merchant ;  but 


1  Cogitationum  vertigine. 

2  ingenia  qucedam  ventosa  et  discursantia. 


nee  quce  ex  ed  inventd  cogitationibus  imponitur  captimtas. 


82  OF  TRUTH. 

for  the  lie's  sake.  But  I  cannot  tell :  this  same  truth 
is  a  naked  and  open  day-light,  that  doth  not  shew  the 
masks  and  mummeries  and  triumphs  of  the  world,  half 
so  stately  and  daintily  as  candle-lights.  Truth  may 
perhaps  come  to  the  price  of  a  pearl,  that  sheweth  best 
by  day ;  but  it  will  not  rise  to  the  price  of  a  diamond 
or  carbuncle,  that  sheweth  best  in  varied  lights.  A 
mixture  of  a  lie  doth  ever  add  pleasure.  Doth  any 
man  doubt,  that  if  there  were  taken  out  of  men's 
minds  vain  opinions,  flattering  hopes,  false  valuations, 
imaginations  as  one  would,  and  the  like,  but  it  would 
leave  the  minds  of  a  number  of  men  poor  shrunken 
things,  full  of  melancholy  and  indisposition,  and  un- 
pleasing  to  themselves  ?  One  of  the  Fathers,  in  great 
severity,  called  poesy  vinum  dcemonum  [devil's-wine] , 
because  it  filleth  the  imagination ;  and  yet  it  is  but 
with  the  shadow  of  a  lie.  But  it  is  not  the  he  that 
passeth  through  the  mind,  but  the  lie  that  sinketh  in 
and  settleth  in  it,  that  doth  the  hurt ;  such  as  we  spake 
of  before.  But  howsoever  these  thing-s  are  thus  in 
men's  depraved  judgments  and  affections,  yet  truth, 
which  only  doth  judge  itself,  teacheth  that  the  inquiry 
of  truth,  which  is  the  love-making  or  wooing  of  it,  the 
knowledge  of  truth,  which  is  the  presence  of  it,  and 
the  belief  of  truth,  which  is  the  enjoying  of  it,  is  the 
sovereign  good  of  human  nature.  The  first  creature 
of  God,  in  the  works  of  the  days,  was  the  light  of  the 
sense ;  the  last  was  the  light  of  reason ;  and  his  sab- 
bath work  ever  since,  is  the  illumination  of  his  Spirit. 
First  he  breathed  light  upon  the  face  of  the  matter  or 
chaos  ;  then  he  breathed  light  into  the  face  of  man  ; 
and  still  he  breatheth  and  inspireth  light  into  the  face 
of  his  chosen.     The  poet  that  beautified  the  sect  that 


OF  TKUTH. 


83 


was  otherwise  inferior  to  the  rest,^  saith  yet  excellently 
well :  It  is  a  pleasure  to  stand  upon  the  shore,  and  to 
see  ships  tossed  upon  the  sea  ;  a  pleasure  to  stand  in  the 
window  of  a  castle,  and  to  see  a  battle  and  the  adventures 
thereof  below :  but  no  pleasure  is  comparable  to  the  stand- 
ing upon  the  vantage  ground  of  Truth,  (a  hill  not  to  be 
commanded,  and  where  the  air  is  always  clear  and 
serene,)  and  to  see  the  errors,  and  wanderings,  and 
mists,  and  tempests,  in  the  vale  below ;  so  always  that 
this  prospect  be  with  pity,  and  not  with  swelling  or 
pride.  Certainly,  it  is  heaven  upon  earth,  to  have  a 
man's  mind  move  in  charity,  rest  in  providence,  and 
turn  upon  the  poles  of  truth. 

To  pass  from  theological  and  philosophical  truth,  to 
the  truth  ^  of  civil  business ;  it  will  be  acknowledged 
even  by  those  that  practise  it  not,  that  clear  and  round 
dealing  ^  is  the  honour  of  man's  nature  ;  and  that  mix- 
ture of  falsehood  is  like  allay  in  coin  of  gold  and  silver, 
which  may  make  the  metal  work  the  better,  but  it 
embaseth  it.  For  these  winding;  and  crooked  courses 
are  the  goings  of  the  serpent ;  which  goeth  basely  upon 
the  belly,  and  not  upon  the  feet.  There  is  no  vice  that 
doth  so  cover  a  man  with  shame  as  to  be  found  false 
and  perfidious.  And  therefore  Montaigne  saith  pret- 
tily, when  he  inquired  the  reason,  why  the  word  of 
the  lie  should  be  such  a  disgrace  and  such  an  odious 
charge  ?  Saith  he.  If  it  be  well  weighed,  to  sag  that  a 
man  lieth,  is  as  much  to  sag,  as  that  he  is  brave  towards 
God  and  a  coward  towards  men.^  For  a  lie  faces  God, 

1  Lucretius.     See  the  beginning  of  the  second  book. 

2  veritatem  aut  potius  veracitatem. 

^  apertam  et  minime  fucatam  in  negotiis  gerendis  rationem. 
4  Essais,  II.  18.     Compare  Plutarch,  Lysand.  c.  8 :   6   yap   opKO)   irapa- 
Kpovofievog,  tov  fiev  kx&pdv  6fio?ioyel  dediivai,  rov  de  ■&tov  Karaippovdv. 


84  OF  DEATH. 

and  shrinks  from  man.  Surely  the  wickedness  of  false- 
hood and  breach  of  faith  cannot  possibly  be  so  highly 
expressed,  as  in  that  it  shall  be  the  last  peal  to  call  the 
judgments  of  God  upon  the  generations  of  men  ;  it 
being  foretold,  that  when  Christ  cometh,  he  shall  not 
find  faith  upon  the  earth. 


II.     Or  Death. 

Men  fear  Death,  as  children  fear  to  go  in  the  dark ; 
and  as  that  natural  fear  in  children  is  increased  with 
tales,  so  is  the  other.  Certainly,  the  contemplation  of 
death,  as  the  wages  of  sin  and  passage  to  another  world, 
is  holy  and  religious  ;  but  the  fear  of  it,  as  a  tribute 
due  unto  nature,  is  weak.  Yet  in  religious  meditations 
there  is  sometimes  mixture  of  vanity  and  of  supersti- 
tion. You  shall  read  in  some  of  the  friars'  books  of 
mortification,  that  a  man  should  think  with  himself 
what  the  pain  is  if  he  have  but  his  finger's  end  pressed 
or  tortured,  and  thereby  imagine  what  the  pains  of 
death  are,  when  the  whole  body  is  corrupted  and  dis- 
solved ;  when  many  times  death  passeth  with  less  pain 
than  the  torture  of  a  limb  :  for  the  most  vital  parts  are 
not  the  quickest  of  sense.  And  by  him  that  spake 
only  as  a  philosopher  and  natural  man,  it  was  well 
said,  Pompa  mortis  magis  terret^  quam  mors  ipsa  :  ^  [it 
is  the  accompaniments  of  death  that  are  frightful  rather 
than  death  itself.]  Groans  and  convulsions,  and  a  dis- 
coloured face,  and  friends  weeping,  and  blacks,  and  ob- 

1  Seneca,  Ep.  24.  Tolle  istam  pompam  sub  qua  lates  et  stultos  territas : 
mors  es,  quern  nuper  servus  meus,  quern  ancilla  contempsit.  See  the  rest 
of  the  passage,  and  my  note  on  Rawley's  Life  of  Bacon,  Vol.  I.  p.  13.  n.  1. 


OF  DEATH.  85 

sequies,  and  the  like,  shew  death  terrible.  It  is  worthy 
the  observing,  that  there  is  no  passion  in  the  mind 
of  man  so  weak,  but  it  mates  and  masters  the  fear  of 
death  ;  and  therefore  death  is  no  such  terrible  enemy 
when  a  man  hath  so  many  attendants  about  him  that 
can  win  the  combat  of  him.  Revenge  triumphs  over 
death  ;  Love  slights  it ;  Honour  aspireth  to  it ;  Grief 
flieth  to  it ;  ^  Fear  pre-occupateth  it ;  nay  we  read,  after 
Otho  the  emperor  had  slain  himself,  Pity  (which  is  the 
tenderest  of  affections)  provoked  many  to  die,  out  of 
mere  compassion  to  their  sovereign,  and  as  the  truest 
sort  of  followers.  Nay  Seneca  adds  niceness  and  sa- 
tiety :  Cogita  quamdiu  eadcm  feceris  ;  mori  velle^  non 
tantum  fortis,  aut  miser,  sed  etiam  fastidiosus  potest 
A  man  would  die,  though  he  were  neither  vahant  nor 
miserable,  only  upon  a  weariness  to  do  the  same  thing 
so  oft  over  and  over.  It  is  no  less  worthy  to  observe, 
how  little  alteration  in  good  spirits  the  approaches  of 
death  make  ;  for  they  appear  to  be  the  same  men  till 
the  last  instant.  Augustus  Caesar  died  in  a  compli- 
ment ;  lAvia,  conjugii  nostri  memor,  vive  et  vale :  [fare- 
well, Livia ;  and  forget  not  the  days  of  our  marriage.] 
Tiberius  in  dissimulation  ;  as  Tacitus  saith  of  him.  Jam 
Tiherium  vires  et  corpus,  non  dissimulatio,  deserehant : 
[his  powers  of  body  were  gone,  but  his  power  of  dis- 
simulation still  remained.]  Vespasian  in  a  jest ;  sitting 
upon  the  stool,  Ut  puto  Deus  fio :  [I  think  I  am  becom- 
ing a  god.]  Galba  with  a  sentence  ;  Feri,  si  ex  re  sit 
populi  Romani :  [strike,  if  it  be  for  the  good  of  Rome  ;] 
holding  forth  his  neck.    Septimius  Severus  in  despatch  ; 

1  The  translation  adds,  metus  ignominice  eligit :  a  sentence  which  is  also 
found  in  the  edition  of  1612,  —  "Delivery  from  ignominy  chooseth  it;" 
omitted  here  probably  by  accident. 


86 


OF  UNITY  IN  RELIGION. 


Adeste  si  quid  mild  restat  agendum  :  [make  haste,  if 
there  is  anything  more  for  me  to  do.]  And  the  hke. 
Certainly  the  Stoics  bestowed  too  much  cost  upon 
death,  and  by  their  great  preparations  made  it  appear 
more  fearful.  Better  saith  he,  qui  finem  vitce  extremum 
inter  munera  ponat  naturce  :  [who  accounts  the  close 
of  life  as  one  of  the  benefits  of  nature.]  It  is  as  nat- 
ural to  die  as  to  be  born  ;  and  to  a  little  infant,  per- 
haps, the  one  is  as  painful  as  the  other.  He  that  dies 
in  an  earnest  pursuit,  is  like  one  that  is  wounded  in  hot 
blood  ;  who,  for  the  time,  scarce  feels  the  hurt ;  and 
therefore  a  mind  fixed  and  bent  upon  somewhat  that  is 
good  doth  avert  the  dolours  of  death.  But  above  all, 
believe  it,  the  sweetest  canticle  is,  JVunc  dimittis  ;  when 
a  man  hath  obtained  worthy  ends  and  expectations. 
Death  hath  this  also  ;  that  it  openeth  the  gate  to  good 
fame,  and  extinguisheth  envy.  Extinctus  amahitur 
idem  :  [the  same  man  that  was  envied  while  he  lived, 
shall  be  loved  when  he  is  gone]. 


III.     Of  Unity  in  Religion. 

Religion  being  the  chief  band  of  human  society,  it 
is  a  happy  thing  when  itself  is  well  contained  within 
the  true  band  of  Unity.  The  quarrels  and  divisions 
about  religion  were  evils  unknown  to  the  heathen. 
The  reason  was,  because  the  religion  of  the  heathen 
consisted  rather  in  rites  and  ceremonies,  than  in  any 
constant  belief.  For  you  may  imagine  what  kind  of 
faith  theirs  was,  when  the  chief  doctors  and  fathers  of 
their  church  were  the  poets.  But  the  true  God  hath 
this  attribute,  that  he  is  a  jealous  God ;  and  therefore 


OF  UNITY  IN  KELIGION.  87 

his  worship  and  religion  will  endure  no  mixture  nor 
partner.  We  shall  therefore  speak  a  few  words  con- 
cerning the  Unity  of  the  Church ;  what  are  the  Fruits 
thereof;  what  the  Bounds;  and  what  the  Means. 

The  Fruits  of  Unity  (next  unto  the  well  pleasing 
of  God,  which  is  all  in  all)  are  two  ;  the  one  towards 
those  that  are  without  the  church,  the  other  towards 
those  that  are  within.  For  the  former ;  it  is  certain 
that  heresies  and  schisms  are  of  all  others  the  greatest 
scandals ;  yea,  more  than  corruption  of  manners.  For 
as  in  the  natural  body  a  wound  or  solution  of  continuity 
is  worse  than  a  corrupt  humour  ;  so  in  the  spiritual. 
So  that  nothing  doth  so  much  keep  men  out  of  the 
church,  and  drive  men  out  of  the  church,  as  breach  of 
unity.  And  therefore,  whensoever  it  cometh  to  that 
pass,  that  one  saith  Ecne  in  deserto^  another  saith  Ucce 
in  penetralibus  ;  that  is,  when  some  men  seek  Christ  in 
the  conventicles  of  heretics,  and  others  in  an  outward 
face  of  a  church,  that  voice  had  need  continually  to 
sound  in  men's  ears,  Nolite  exire,  —  Gfo  not  out.  The 
Doctor  of  the  Gentiles  (the  propriety  of  whose  voca- 
tion drew  him  to  have  a  special  care  of  those  without) 
saith.  If  an  heathen  come  in,  and  hear  you  sjjeak  ivith 
several  tongues,  will  he  not  say  that  you  are  mad  ?  And 
certainly  it  is  little  better,  when  atheists  and  profane 
persons  do  hear  of  so  many  discordant  and  contrary 
opinions  in  religion  ;  it  doth  avert  them  from  the 
church,  and  maketh  them  to  sit  down  in  the  chair  of  the 
scorners.  It  is  but  a  light  thing  to  be  vouched  in 
so  serious  a  matter,  but  yet  it  expresseth  well  the  de- 
formity. There  is  a  master  of  scoffing,  that  in  his 
catalogue  of  books  of  a  feigned  library  sets  down  this 
title  of  a  book,  The  morris-dance  of  Heretics.     For  in- 


88  OF  UNITY  IN  KELIGION. 

deed  every  sect  of  them  hath  a  diverse  posture  or 
cringe  by  themselves,  which  camiot  but  move  derision 
in  worldUngs  and  depraved  pohtics,  who  are  apt  to 
contemn  holy  things. 

As  for  the  fruit  towards  those  that  are  within  ;  it  is 
peace ;  which  containeth  infinite  blessings.  It  estab- 
lisheth  faith.  It  kindleth  charity.  The  outward  peace 
of  the  church  distilleth  into  peace  of  conscience.  And 
it  turneth  the  labours  of  writing  and  reading  of  contro- 
versies into  treatises  ^  of  mortification  and  devotion. 

Concerning  the  Bounds  of  Unity ;  the  true  placing 
of  them  importeth  exceedingly.  There  appear  to  be 
two  extremes.  For  to  certain  zelants  all  speech  of  pa- 
cification is  odious.  Is  it  peace,  Jehu?  What  hast  thou 
to  do  ivith  peace  ?  turn  thee  behind  me.  Peace  is  not 
the  matter,  but  following  and  party.  Contrariwise, 
certain  Laodiceans  and  lukewarm  persons  think  they 
may  accommodate  points  of  religion  by  middle  ways, 
and  taking  part  of  both,  and  witty  reconcilements ;  as 
if  they  would  make  an  arbitrement  between  God  and 
man.  Both  these  extremes  are  to  be  avoided  ;  which 
will  be  done,  if  the  league  of  Christians  penned  by  our 
Saviour  himself  were  in  the  two  cross  clauses  thereof  ^ 
soundly  and  plainly  expounded  :  He  that  is  not  with  us 
is  against  us  ;  and  again,  ITe  that  is  not  against  us  is 
with  us  ;  that  is,  if  the  points  fundamental  and  of  sub- 
stance in  religion  were  truly  discerned  and  distin- 
guished from  points  not  merely  of  faith,  but  of  opinion, 
order,  or  good  intention.^     This  is  a  thing  may  seem 


1  treaties^  in  the  original. 

2  in  clausulis  ilUs  qimprimo  intuitu  inter  se  opponi  videntur. 

8  qum  non  sunt  exjide,  sed  ex  opinione  probabili  et  intentione  sancta^  propter 
ordinem  et  ecclesim  poUtiam  sancita. 


OF   UNITY  IN  RELIGION.  89 

to  many  a  matter  trivial,  and  done  already.  But  if  it 
were  done  less  partially,  it  would  be  embraced  more 
generally. 

Of  this  I  may  give  only  this  advice,  according  to 
my  small  model.  Men  ought  to  take  heed  of  rending 
God's  church  by  two  kinds  of  controversies.  The  one 
is,  when  the  matter  of  the  point  controverted  is  too 
small  and  light,  not  worth  the  heat  and  strife  about  it, 
kindled  only  by  contradiction.  For  as  it  is  noted  by 
one  of  the  fathers,  Christ'' s  coat  indeed  had  no  seam,  but 
the  church'' s  vesture  was  of  divers  colours  ;  whereupon  he 
saith.  In  veste  varietas  sit,  scissura  non  sit,  [let  there  be 
variety  in  the  garment,  but  let  there  be  no  division :] 
they  be  two  things,  Unity  and  Uniformity.  The  other 
is,  when  the  matter  of  the  point  controverted  is  great, 
but  it  is  driven  to  an  over-great  subtilty  and  obscurity ; 
so  that  it  becometh  a  thing  rather  ingenious  than  sub- 
stantial. A  man  that  is  of  judgment  and  understand- 
ing shall  sometimes  hear  ignorant  men  differ,  and  know 
well  within  himself  that  those  which  so  differ  mean 
one  thing,  and  yet  they  themselves  would  never  agree. 
And  if  it  come  so  to  pass  in  that  distance  of  judgment 
which  is  between  man  and  man,  shall  we  not  ^  think 
that  God  above,  that  knows  the  heart,  doth  not^  dis- 
cern that  frail  men  in  some  of  their  contradictions 
intend  the  same  thing  ;  and  accepteth  of  both  ?  The 
nature  of  such  controversies  is  excellently  expressed  by 
St.  Paul  in  the  warning  and  precept  that  he  giveth 
concerning  the  same,  Devita  prof  anas  vocum  novitates^ 
et  oppositiones  falsi  nominis  scientice:  [Avoid  profane 
novelties  of  terms,  and  oppositions  of  science  falsely  so 

1  So  in  the  original.    One  of  the  nots  should  obviously  be  struck  out ;  the 
reader  can  choose  which. 


90  OF  UNITY  IN  RELIGION. 

called.]  Men  create  oppositions  which  are  not ;  and 
put  them  into  new  terms  so  fixed,  as  whereas  the 
meaning  ought  to  govern  the  term,  the  term  in  effect 
governeth  the  meaning.  There  be  also  two  false 
peaces  or  unities :  the  one,  when  the  peace  is  grounded 
but  upon  an  implicit  ignorance  ;  for  all  colours  will 
agree  in  the  dark :  the  other,  when  it  is  pieced  up  upon 
a  direct  admission  of  contraries  in  fundamental  points. 
For  truth  and  falsehood,  in  such  things,  are  like  the 
iron  and  clay  in  the  toes  of  Nabuchadnezzar's  image ; 
they  may  cleave,  but  tliey  will  not  incorporate. 

Concerning  the  Means  of  procuring  Unity ;  men 
must  beware,  that  in  the  procuring  or  muniting  of  re- 
ligious unity  they  do  not  dissolve  and  deface  the  laws 
of  charity  and  of  human  society.  There  be  two  swords 
amongst  Christians,  the  spiritual  and  temporal ;  and 
both  have  their  due  office  and  place  in  the  mainten- 
ance of  religion.  But  we  may  not  take  up  the  third 
sword,  which  is  Mahomet's  sword,  or  like  unto  it ;  that 
is,  to  propagate  religion  by  wars  or  by  sanguinary  per- 
secutions to  force  consciences ;  except  it  be  in  cases  of 
overt  scandal,  blasphemy,  or  intermixture  of  practice 
against  the  state  ;  much  less  to  nourish  seditions  ;  to 
authorize  conspiracies  and  rebellions ;  to  put  the  sword 
into  the  people's  hands  ;  and  the  like  ;  tending  to  the 
subversion  of  all  government,^  which  Is  the  ordinance 
of  God.  For  this  is  but  to  dash  the  first  table  against 
the  second ;  and  so  to  consider  men  as  Christians, 
as  we  forgets  that  they  are  men.  Lucretius  the 
poet,  when   he  beheld  the  act  of  Agamemnon,   that 

1  quce  omnia  manifestissime  tendunt  ad  majestatem  impeni  minuendam  et 
auctoritatem  magistratuum  labefactandam ;  cum  tamen  omnis  legitima  potes- 
tas  sit  a  Deo  ordinata. 


OF  UNITY  IN  RELIGION.  91 

could  endure  the  sacrificing  of  his  own  daughter,  ex- 
claimed : 

Tantum  Relligio  potuit  suadere  malorum : 

[to  such  ill  actions  Rehgion  could  persuade  a  man.] 
What  would  he  have  said,  if  he  had  known  of  the  mas- 
sacre in  France,  or  the  powder  treason  of  England  ? 
He  would  have  been  seven  times  more  Epicure  and 
atheist  than  he  was.  For  as  the  temporal  sword  is  to 
be  drawn  with  great  circumspection  in  cases  of  relig- 
ion ;  so  it  is  a  thing  monstrous  to  put  it  into  the  hands 
of  the  common  people.  Let  that  be  left  unto  the  Ana- 
baptists, and  other  furies.  It  was  great  blasphemy 
when  the  devil  said,  I  will  ascend  and  be  like  the  High- 
est;  but  it  is  greater  blasphemy  to  personate  God, 
and  bring  him  in  saying,  I  will  descend,  and  be  like  the 
prince  of  darkness  :  and  what  is  it  better,  to  make  the 
cause  of  religion  to  descend  to  the  cruel  and  execrable 
actions  of  murthering  princes,  butchery  of  people,  and 
subversion  of  states  and  governments  ?  Surely  this  is 
to  bring  down  the  Holy  Ghost,  instead  of  the  likeness 
of  a  dove,  in  the  shape  of  a  vulture  or  raven ;  and  set 
out  of  the  bark  of  a  Christian  church  a  flag  of  a  bark 
of  pirates  and  assassins.  Therefore  it  is  most  neces- 
sary that  the  church  by  doctrine  and  decree,  princes 
by  their  sword,  and  all  learnings,  both  Christian  and 
moral,  as  by  their  Mercury  rod,  do  damn  and  send  to 
hell  for  ever  those  facts  and  opinions  tending  to  the 
support  of  the  same  ;  as  hath  been  already  in  good 
part  done.  Surely  in  counsels  concerning  religion, 
that  counsel  of  the  apostle  would  be  prefixed,  Ira  hom- 
inis  non  implet  justitiam  Dei :  [The  wrath  of  man 
worketh  not  the  righteousness  of  God.]  And  it  was 
a  notable  observation  of  a  wise  father,  and  no  less  in- 


92  OF  REVENGE. 

genuously  confessed ;  that  those  which  held  and  per- 
suaded pressure  of  consciences^  were  commonly  inter essed 
therein  themselves  for  their  own  ends. 


IV.    Of  Revenge. 

Revenge  is  a  kind  of  wild  justice  ;  which  the  more 
man's  nature  runs  to,  the  more  ought  law  to  weed  it 
out.  For  as  for  the  first  wrong,  it  doth  but  offend  the 
law  ;  but  the  revenge  of  that  wrong  putteth  the  law 
out  of  office.  Certainly,  in  taking  revenge,  a  man  is 
but  even  with  his  enemy  ;  but  in  passing  it  over,  he  is 
superior  ;  for  it  is  a  prince's  part  to  pardon.  And 
Salomon,  I  am  sure,  saith.  It  is  the  glory  of  a  man  to 
pass  hy  an  offence.  That  which  is  past  is  gone,  and 
irrevocable  ;  and  wise  men  have  enough  to  do  with 
things  present  and  to  come ;  therefore  they  do  but  trifle 
with  themselves,  that  labour  in  past  matters.  There  is 
no  man  doth  a  wrong  for  the  wrong's  sake  ;  but  there- 
by to  purchase  himself  profit,  or  pleasure,  or  honour, 
or  the  like.  Therefore  why  should  I  be  angry  with  a 
man  for  loving  himself  better  than  me  ?  And  if  any 
man  should  do  wrong  merely  out  of  ill-nature,  why, 
yet  it  is  but  like  the  thorn  or  briar,  which  prick  and 
scratch,  because  they  can  do  no  other.  The  most  tol- 
erable sort  of  revenge  is  for  those  wrongs  which  there 
is  no  law  to  remedy  ;  but  then  let  a  man  take  heed  the 
revenge  be  such  as  there  is  no  law  to  punish  ;  else  a 
man's  enemy  is  still  before  hand,  and  it  is  two  for  one.^ 
Some,  when  they  take  revenge,  are  desirous  the  party 
should  know  whence  it  cometh.     This  the  more  gen- 

1  Alias  ipse  sibipoenam  conduplicat,  inimicus  vero  lucrum  facit. 


OF  ADVEKSITY.  93 

erous.  For  the  delight  seemeth  to  be  not  so  much  in 
doing  the  hurt  as  in  making  the  party  repent.  But 
base  and  crafty  cowards  ^  are  Hke  the  arrow  that  flieth 
in  the  dark.  Cosmus,  duke  of  Florence,  had  a  des- 
perate saying  against  perfidious  or  neglecting  friends, 
as  if  those  wrongs  were  unpardonable  ;  You  shall  read 
(saith  he)  that  we  are  commanded  to  forgive  our  ene- 
mies;  hut  you  never  read  that  we  are  commanded  to  for- 
give our  friends.  But  yet  the  spirit  of  Job  was  in  a 
better  tune  :  Shall  tve  (saith  he)  take  good  at  God's 
hands.,  and  not  he  content  to  take  evil  also  ?  And  so  of 
friends  in  a  proportion.  This  is  certain,  that  a  man 
that  studieth  revenge  keeps  his  own  wounds  green, 
which  otherwise  would  heal  and  do  well.  Public  re- 
venges are  for  the  most  part  fortunate  ;  as  that  for  the 
death  of  Caesar  ;  for  the  death  of  Pertinax  ;  for  the 
death  of  Henry  the  Third  ^  of  France ;  and  many 
more.  But  in  private  revenges  it  is  not  so.  Nay 
rather,  vindictive  persons  live  the  life  of  witches  ;  who, 
as  they  are  mischievous,  so  end  they  infortunate. 


V.    Of  Adversity. 

It  was  a  high  speech  of  Seneca  (after  the  manner 
of  the  Stoics),  that  the  good  things  which  helong  to  pros- 
peiity  are  to  he  wished  ;  hut  the  good  things  that  helong 
to  adversity  are  to  he  admired.  Bona  rerum  secundarum 
optahilia  ;  adversarum  mirahilia.  Certainly  if  miracles 
be  the  command  over  nature,  they  appear  most  in  ad- 

1  ViU  ingenio  prcediti  et  malitiosi. 

2  So  the  original.  The  Latin  translation  has  Henrici  Quarti,  magni  illius 
Gallim  regis.  It  is  probable  therefore  that  we  should  read  here  fourth  instead 
of  third.    But  the  observation  is  true  to  a  certain  extent  with  regard  to  both. 


94  OF  ADVERSITY. 

versitj.  It  is  yet  a  higher  speech  of  his  than  the  other 
(much  too  high  for  a  heathen),  It  is  true  greatness  to 
have  in  one  the  frailty  of  a  man^  and  the  security  of  a 
G-od.  Vere  magnum  habere  fragilitatem  hominis,  secw- 
ritatem  Dei.  This  would  have  done  better  in  poesy, 
where  transcendences  are  more  allowed.  And  the 
poets  indeed  have  been  busy  with  it ;  for  it  is  in  effect 
the  thing  which  is  figured  in  that  strange  fiction  of  the 
ancient  poets,  which  seemeth  not  to  be  without  mys- 
tery ;  nay,  and  to  have  some  approach  to  the  state  of 
a  Christian  ;  that  Hercules,  when  he  went  to  unbind 
Prometheus,  (by  whom  human  nature  is  represented), 
sailed  the  length  of  the  great  ocean  in  an  earthen  pot 
or  pitcher ;  hvely  describing  Christian  resolution,  that 
saileth  in  the  frail  bark  of  the  flesh  thorough  the  waves 
of  the  world.  But  to  speak  in  a  mean.^  The  virtue 
of  Prosperity  is  temperance ;  the  virtue  of  Adversity  is 
fortitude  ;  which  in  morals  is  the  more  heroical  virtue. 
Prosperity  is  the  blessing  of  the  Old  Testament ;  Ad- 
versity is  the  blessing  of  the  New  ;  which  carrieth  the 
greater  benediction,  and  the  clearer  revelation  of  God's 
favour.  Yet  even  in  the  Old  Testament,  if  you  listen 
to  David's  harp,  you  shall  hear  as  many  hearse-like 
airs  as  carols  ;  and  the  pencil  of  the  Holy  Ghost  hath 
laboured  more  in  describing  the  afflictions  of  Job  than 
the  felicities  of  Salomon.  Prosperity  is  not  vnthout 
many  fears  and  distastes  ;  and  Adversity  is  not  without 
comforts  and  hopes.  We  see  in  needle-works  and  em- 
broideries, it  is  more  pleasing  to  have  a  lively  work 
upon  a  sad  and  solemn  ground,  than  to  have  a  dark 
and  melancholy  work  upon  a  lightsome  ground  :  judge 
therefore  of  the  pleasure  of  the  heart  by  the  pleasure 

'^  Ut  a  granditate  verborum  ad  mediocritatem  descendamus. 


OF  SIMULATION  AND   DISSIMULATION.  95 

of  the  eye.  Certainly  virtue  is  like  precious  odours, 
most  fragrant  when  they  are  incensed  or  crushed :  for 
Prosperity  doth  best  discover  vice,  but  Adversity  doth 
best  discover  virtue. 


VI.  Of  Simulation  and  Dissimulation. 

Dissimulation  is  but  a  faint  kind  of  policy  or  wis- 
dom ;  ^  for  it  asketh  a  strong  wit  and  a  strong  heart  to 
know  when  to  tell  truth,  and  to  do  it.  Therefore  it 
is  the  weaker  sort  of  politics  that  are  the  great  dis- 
semblers. 

Tacitus  saith,^  lAvia  sorted  well  with  the  arts  of  her 
husband  and  dissimulation  of  her  son ;  attributing  arts 
or  policy  to  Augustus,  and  dissimulation  to  Tiberius. 
And  again,  when  Mucianus  encourageth  Vespasian  to 
take  arms  against  Vitellius,  he  saith,^  We  rise  not 
against  the  piercing  judgment  of  Augustus^  nor  the  ea>- 
treme  caution  or  closeness  of  Tiberius.  These  proper- 
ties, of  arts  or  policy  and  dissimulation  or  closeness,  are 
indeed  habits  and  faculties  several,  and  to  be  distin- 
guished. For  if  a  man  have  that  penetration  of  judg- 
ment as  he  can  discern  what  things  are  to  be  laid  open, 
and  what  to  be  secreted,  and  what  to  be  shewed  at  half 
lights,  and  to  whom  and  when,  (which  indeed  are  arts 
of  state  and  arts  of  life,  as  Tacitus  well  calleth  them,) 
to  him  a  habit  of  dissimulation  is  a  hinderance  and  a 
poorness.     But  if  a  man  cannot  obtain  to  that  judg- 

1  Artium  civilium  compendium  quoddam  etpars  injirmior. 

2  Qtiod  discrimen  bene  apud  Taciturn  Ccesarem  Augustum  inter  et  Tiberium 
adnotatum  est.     Etenim  de  Livid  sic  ait. 

3  Idem  alibi  hisce  verbis  Mucianum  inducit  Vespasianum  ad  arma  contra 
Vitellium  sumenda  hortantem. 


96  OF   SIMULATION  AND  DISSIMULATION. 

ment,  then  it  is  left  to  him  generally  to  be  close,  and 
a  dissembler.  For  where  a  man  cannot  choose  or  vary- 
in  particulars,  there  it  is  good  to  take  the  safest  and 
wariest  way  in  general ;  like  the  going  softly,  by  one 
that  cannot  well  see.  Certainly  the  ablest  men  that 
ever  were  have  had  all  an  openness  and  frankness  of 
dealing ;  and  a  name  of  certainty  and  veracity  ;  but 
then  they  were  like  horses  well  managed  ;  for  they 
could  tell  passing  well  when  to  stop  or  turn  ;  and  at 
such  times  when  they  thought  the  case  indeed  required 
dissimulation,  if  then  they  used  it,  it  came  to  pass  that 
the  former  opinion  spread  abroad  of  their  good  faith 
and  clearness  of  dealing  made  them  almost  invisible,^ 

There  be  three  degrees  of  this  hiding  and  veiling  of 
a  man's  self.  The  first.  Closeness,  Reservation,  and 
Secrecy ;  when  a  man  leaveth  himself  without  obser- 
vation, or  without  hold  to  be  taken,  what  he  is.^  The 
second,  Dissimulation,  in  the  negative ;  when  a  man 
lets  fall  signs  and  arguments,  that  he  is  not  that  he  is. 
And  the  third.  Simulation,  in  the  affirmative  ;  when  a 
man  industriously  and  expressly  feigns  and  pretends  to 
be  that  he  is  not. 

For  the  first  of  these.  Secrecy  ;  it  is  indeed  the 
virtue  of  a  confessor.  And  assuredly  the  secret  man 
heareth  many  confessions.  For  who  will  open  himself 
to  a  blab  or  babbler  ?  But  if  a  man  be  thought  secret, 
it  inviteth  discovery ;  ^  as  the  more  close  air  sucketh  in 
the  more  open  ;  and  as  in  confession  the  revealing  is 

1  Quod  si  necessitas  qumdam  ingruat  dissimulationem  profundam  postulans, 
time  quidem  opinio  et  fama  de  bona  Jide  et  veracitate  eorum  prceconcepta  eos 
reddit  proi^sus  invisibiles. 

2  Primus  est  Taciturnitas,  cum  quis  sensus  animi  sui  premit,  adeoque  relin- 
quit  in  cequilibrio,  ut  in  quam  partem  propendeat  nemo  facile  conjecerit. 

^facile  aliorum  animos  reserabit. 


OF  SIMULATION  AND  DISSIMULATION.  97 

not  for  worldly  use,  but  for  the  ease  of  a  man's  heart,^ 
so  secret  men  come  to  the  knowledge  of  many  things 
in  that  kind ;  while  men  rather  discharge  their  minds 
than  impart  their  minds.  In  few  words,  mysteries  are 
due  to  secrecy.^  Besides  (to  say  truth)  nakedness  is 
uncomely,  as  well  in  mind  as  body ;  and  it  addeth  no 
small  reverence  to  men's  manners  and  actions,  if  they 
be  not  altogether  open.  As  for  talkers  and  futile  per- 
sons, they  are  commonly  vain  and  credulous  withal. 
For  he  that  talketh  what  he  knoweth,  will  also  talk 
what  he  knoweth  not.  Therefore  set  it  down,  that  an 
habit  of  secrecy  is  both  politic  and  moral.  And  in  this 
part  it  is  good  that  a  man's  face  give  his  tongue  leave 
to  speak.  For  the  discovery  of  a  man's  self  by  the 
tracts  of  his  countenance  is  a  great  weakness  and  be- 
traying ;  by  how  much  it  is  many  times  more  marked 
and  believed  than  a  man's  words. 

For  the  second,  which  is  Dissimulation  ;  it  followeth 
many  times  upon  secrecy  by  a  necessity ;  so  that  he 
that  will  be  secret  must  be  a  dissembler  in  some  degree. 
For  men  are  too  cunning  to  suffer  a  man  to  keep  an 
indifferent  carriage  between  both,  and  to  be  secret, 
without  swaying  the  balance  on  either  side.*^  They 
will  so  beset  a  man  with  questions,  and  draw  him  on, 
and  pick  it  out  of  him,  that,  without  an  absurd  silence, 
he  must  shew  an  inclination  one  way  ;  or  if  he  do  not, 
they  will  gather  as  much  by  his  silence  as  by  his 
speech.  As  for  equivocations,  or  oraculous  speeches, 
they  cannot  hold  out  long.  So  that  no  man  can  be 
secret,  except  he  give  himself  a  little  scope  of  dissimu- 

1  ad  conscientiam  svhlevandam. 

2  silentibus. 

8  in  (Bquilibrio  se  continere,  absque  aliqua  in  alteram  partem  inclinationis 
siUB  declaratione. 

VOL.   XII.  7 


98  OF  SIMULATION  AND  DISSIMULATION. 

lation ;  which  is,  as  it  were,  but  the  skirts  or  train  of 
secrecy. 

But  for  the  third  degree,  which  is  Simulation  and 
false  profession  ;  that  I  hold  more  culpable,  and  less 
politic  ;  except  it  be  in  great  and  rare  matters.  And 
therefore  a  general  custom  of  simulation  (which  is  this 
last  degree)  is  a  vice,  rising  either  of  a  natural  falseness 
or  fearfulness,  or  of  a  mind  that  hath  some  main  faults, 
which  because  a  man  must  needs  disguise,  it  maketh 
him  practise  simulation  in  other  things,  lest  his  hand 
should  be  out  of  use. 

The  great  ^  advantages  of  simulation  and  dissimu- 
lation are  three.  First,  to  lay  asleep  opposition,  and 
to  surprise.  For  where  a  man's  intentions  are  pub- 
lished, it  is  an  alarum  to  call  up  all  that  are  against 
them.  The  second  is,  to  reserve  to  a  man's  self  a  fair 
retreat.  For  if  a  man  engage  himself  by  a  manifest 
declaration,  he  must  go  through  or  take  a  fall.^  The 
third  is,  the  better  to  discover  the  mind  of  another. 
For  to  him  that  opens  himself  men  will  hardly  shew 
themselves  adverse ;  but  will  (fair)  ^  let  him  go  on, 
and  turn  their  freedom  of  speech  to  freedom  of 
thought.  And  therefore  it  is  a  good  shrewd  proverb 
of  the  Spaniard,  Tell  a  lie  and  find  a  troth.  As  if 
there  were  no   way  of  discovery  but  by  simulation.* 

1  So  in  original,  and  in  ed.  1639.  Great  is  omitted  in  the  translation,  and 
in  some  modern  editions,  including  Mr.  Singer's. 

2  Quod  in  hominis  potestate  relinquit  ut  pedem  referat^  et  se  absque  cestima- 
Uonis  sucejactura  de  negotio  subducat.  Si  quis  enim  se  manifesta  declaratione 
obstringit,  is  cuneis  quasi  impactis  includitur ;  aut  pergendum  est  ei,  aut  tur- 
piter  desistendum. 

3  So  in  the  original,  and  also  in  edition  1639.  The  translation  has :  Ei&- 
nim  ei  qui  consilia  sua  profert,  non  facile  quis  se  adversarium  projiteatur, 
verum  assentabitur  potius.  I  do  not  remember  to  have  met  with  this  use  of 
fair  any  where  else ;  but  it  is  intelligible  enough,  and  may,  I  should  think, 
be  right. 

^perinde  ac  si  simuhtio  clavis  esset  ad  secreta  reserai)da. 


OF  PARENTS  AND   CHILDREN.  99 

There  be  also  three  disadvantages,  to  set  it  even.  The 
first,  that  simulation  and  dissimulation  commonly  carry 
with  them  a  shew  of  fearfulness,  which  in  any  business 
doth  spoil  the  feathers  of  round  flying  up  to  the  mark. 
The  second,  that  it  puzzleth  and  perplexeth  the  con- 
ceits of  many,  that  perhaps  would  otherwise  co-operate 
with  him  ;  and  makes  a  man  walk  almost  alone  to  his 
own  ends.  The  third  and  greatest,  is,  that  it  depriveth 
a  man  of  one  of  the  most  principal  instruments  for 
action  ;  which  is  trust  and  belief.  The  best  compo- 
sition and  temperature  is  to  have  openness  in  fame  and 
opinion  ;  ^  secrecy  in  habit ;  dissimulation  in  seasonable 
use ;  and  a  power  to  feign,  if  there  be  no  remedy. 


VII.  Of  Parents  and  Children. 

The  joys  of  parents  are  secret ;  and  so  are  their 
griefs  and  fears.  They  cannot  utter  the  one  ;  nor  they 
will  not  utter  the  other.  Children  sweeten  labours ; 
but  they  make  misfortunes  more  bitter.  They  increase 
the  cares  of  life ;  but  they  mitigate  the  remembrance 
of  death.  The  perpetuity  by  generation  is  common 
to  beasts  ;  but  memory,  merit,  and  noble  works,  are 
proper  to  men.  And  surely  a  man  shall  see  the  no- 
blest works  and  foundations  have  proceeded  from 
childless  men  ;  which  have  sought  to  express  the  im- 
ages of  their  minds,  where  those  of  their  bodies  have 
failed.  So  the  care  of  posterity  is  most  in  them  that 
have  no  posterity.  They  that  are  the  first  raisers  of 
their  houses  are  most  indulgent  towards  their  children  ; 
beholding  them  as  the  continuance  not  only  of  their 

1  Veracitatis  famam. 


100  OF  PARENTS  AND  CHILDREN. 

kind  but  of  their  work  ;  ^   and  so  both  children  and 
creatures. 

The  difference  in  affection  of  parents  towards  their 
several  children  is  many  times  unequal ;  and  sometimes 
unworthy ;  especially  in  the  mother ;  as  Salomon  saith, 
A  wise  son  rejoieeth  the  father^  but  an  ungracious  son 
shames  the  mother.  A  man  shall  see,  where  there  is 
a  house  full  of  children,  one  or  two  of  the  eldest  re- 
spected, and  the  youngest  made  wantons  ;  ^  but  in  the 
midst  some  that  are  as  it  were  forgotten,  who  many 
times  nevertheless  prove  the  best.  The  illiberality  of 
parents  in  allowance  towards  their  children  is  an  harm- 
ful error ;  makes  them  base ;  ^  acquaints  them  with 
shifts ;  makes  them  sort  with  mean  company ;  and 
makes  them  surfeit  more  when  they  come  to  plenty. 
And  therefore  the  proof  is  best,  when  men  keep  their 
authority  towards  their  children,  but  not  their  purse."* 
Men  have  a  foolish  manner  (both  parents  and  school- 
masters and  servants)  in  creating  and  breeding  an 
emulation  between  brothers  during  childhood,  which 
many  times  sorteth  to  discord  when  they  are  men,  and 
disturbeth  families.  The  Italians  make  little  difference 
between  children  and  nephews  or  near  kinsfolks  ;  but 
so  they  be  of  the  lump,  they  care  not  though  they  pass 
not  through  their  own  body.  And,  to  say  truth,  in 
nature  it  is  much  a  like  matter  ;  insomuch  that  we  see 
a  nephew  sometimes  resembleth  an  uncle  or  a  kinsman 
more  than  his  own  parent ;  as  the  blood  happens.  Let 
parents  choose  betimes  ^  the  vocations  and  courses  they 

1  non  tantum  ut  continuaUonem  speciei  siub,  sed  ut  rerum  a  se  gestarum 
hceredes. 

2  in  deliciis  esse.  8  animo  degeneres. 
4  auctoritatem  tuentur,  crumenam  laxant. 

6  in  tenera  cetate  Jiliorum  suorum. 


OF  MARRIAGE  AND  SINGLE  LIFE.  101 

mean  their  children  should  take ;  for  then  they  are 
most  flexible ;  and  let  them  not  too  much  apply  them- 
selves to  the  disposition  of  their  children,  as  thinking 
they  will  take  best  to  that  which  they  have  most  mind 
to.  It  is  true,  that  if  the  affection  or  aptness  of  the 
children  be  extraordinary,  then  it  is  good  not  to  cross 
it ;  but  generally  the  precept  is  good,  optimum  elige, 
suave  et  facile  illud  faciei  consuetudo  :  [choose  the  best 
—  custom  will  make  it  pleasant  and  easy.]  Younger 
brothers  are  commonly  fortunate,  but  seldom  or  never 
where  the  elder  are  disinherited. 


VIII.  Of  Marriage  and  Single  Life. 

He  that  hath  wife  and  children  hath  given  hostages 
to  fortune ;  for  they  are  impediments  to  great  enter- 
prises, either  of  virtue  or  mischief.  Certainly^  the 
best  works,  and  of  greatest  merit  for  the  public,  have 
proceeded  from  the  unmarried  or  childless  men  ;  which 
both  in  affection  and  means  have  married  and  endowed 
the  public.  Yet  it  were  great  reason  that  those  that 
have  children  should  have  greatest  care  of  future  times ; 
unto  which  they  know  they  must  transmit  their  dearest 
pledges.  Some  there  are,  who  though  they  lead  a 
single  life,  yet  their  thoughts  do  end  with  themselves, 
and  account  future  times  impertinences.^  ^^Ji  there 
are  some  other  that  account  wife  and  children  but  as 
bills  of  charges.  Nay  more,  there  are  some  foolish 
rich  covetous  men,  that  take  a  pride  in  having  no 
children,  because  they  may  be  thought  so  much  the 

1  ut  alibi  cHximus. 

2  nihil  ad  se  pertinentia. 


OF  MARRIAGE  AND  SIN< 


richer.  For  perhaps  they  have  heard  some  talk,  Sack 
an  one  is  a  great  rich  man,  and  another  except  to  it, 
Yea,  hut  he  hath  a  great  charge  of  children;  as  if  it 
were  an  abatement  to  his  riches.  But  the  most  ordi- 
nary cause  of  a  single  life  is  liberty,  especially  in 
certain  self-pleasing  and  humorous  minds,  which  are  so 
sensible  of  every  restraint,  as  they  will  go  near  to  think 
their  girdles  and  garters  to  be  bonds  and  shackles. 
Unmarried  men  are  best  friends,  best  masters,  best 
servants ;  but  not  always  best  subjects  ;  for  they  are 
light  to  nin  away ;  and  almost  all  fugitives  are  of  that 
condition.  A  single  life  doth  well  with  churchmen  ; 
for  charity  will  hardly  water  the  ground  where  it  must 
first  fill  a  pool.  It  is  indifferent  for  judges  and  magis- 
trates ;  for  if  they  be  facile  and  corrupt,  you  shall  have 
a  servant  five  times  worse  than  a  wife.  For  soldiers,  I 
find  the  generals  commonly  in  their  hortatives  put  men 
in  mind  of  their  wives  and  children ;  and  I  think  the 
despising  of  marriage  amongst  the  Turks  maketh  the 
vulgar  soldier  more  base.  Certainly  wife  and  children 
are  a  kind  of  discipline  of  humanity ;  and  single  men, 
though  they  may  be  many  times  more  charitable,  be- 
cause their  means  are  less  exhaust,  yet,  on  the  other 
side,  they  are  more  cruel  and  hardhearted,  (good  to 
make  severe  inquisitors,)  because  their  tenderness  is 
not  so  oft  called  upon.  Grave  natures,  led  by  custom, 
and  therefore  constant,  are  commonly  loving  husbands ; 
as  was  said  of  Ulysses,  vetulam  suam  prcetulit  immor- 
talitati:  [he  preferred  his  old  wife  to  immortality.] 
Chaste  women  are  often  proud  and  fro  ward,  as  pre- 
suming upon  the  merit  of  their  chastity.  It  is  one  of 
the  best  bonds  both  of  chastity  and  obedience  in  the 
wife,  if  she  think  her  husband  wise  ;   which  she  will 


OF  ENVY.  103 

never  do  if  she  find  him  jealous.  Wives  are  young 
men's  mistresses  ;  companions  for  middle  age  ;  and  old 
men's  nurses.  So  as  a  man  may  have  a  quarrel  to 
marry  when  he  will.  But  yet  he  was  reputed  one  of 
the  wise  men,  that  made  answer  to  the  question,  when 
a  man  should  marry  ?  —  A  young  man  not  yet^  an  elder 
man  not  at  all.  It  is  often  seen  that  bad  husbands 
have  very  good  wives  ;  whether  it  be  that  it  raiseth 
the  price  of  their  husband's  kindness  when  it  comes  ; 
or  that  the  wives  take  a  pride  in  their  patience.  But 
this  never  fails,  if  the  bad  husbands  were  of  their  own 
choosing,  against  their  friends'  consent ;  for  then  they 
will  be  sure  to  make  good  their  own  folly. 


IX.  Of  Envy. 


There  be  none  of  the  affections  which  have  been 
noted  to  fascinate  or  bewitch,  but  love  and  envy. 
They  both  have  vehement  wishes ;  they  frame  them- 
selves readily  into  imaginations  and  suggestions ;  and 
they  come  easily  into  the  eye,^  especially  upon  the 
presence  of  the  objects  ;  which  are  the  points  that  con- 
duce to  fascination,  if  any  such  thing  there  be.  We 
see  likewise  the  scripture  calletli  envy  an  evil  eye  ;  and 
the  astrologers  call  the  evil  mfluences  of  the  stars  evil 
aspects ;  so  that  still  there  seemeth  to  be  acknowl- 
edged, in  the  act  of  envy,  an  ejaculation  or  irradiation 
of  the  eye.  Nay  some  have  been  so  curious  as  to  note, 
that  the  times  when  the  stroke  or  percussion  of  an  en- 
vious eye  doth  most  hurt,  are  when  the  party  envied  is 
beheld  in  glory  or  triumph ;  for  that  sets  an  edge  upon 

1  Uterque  facile  ascendit  in  oculos. 


104  OF  ENVY. 

envy  :  and  besides,  at  such  times  the  spirits  of  the  per- 
son envied  do  come  forth  most  into  the  outward  parts, 
and  so  meet  the  blow. 

But  leaving  these  curiosities,  (though  not  unworthy 
to  be  thought  on  in  fit  place,)  we  will  handle,  what 
persons  are  apt  to  envy  others  ;  what  persons  are  most 
subject  to  be  envied  themselves ;  and  what  is  the  differ- 
ence between  public  and  private  envy. 

A  man  that  hath  no  virtue  in  himself,  ever  envieth 
virtue  in  others.  For  men's  minds  will  either  feed 
upon  their  own  good  or  upon  others'  evil ;  and  who 
wanteth  the  one  will  prey  upon  the  other ;  and  whoso 
is  out  of  hope  to  attain  to  another's  virtue,  will  seek  to 
come  at  even  hand  by  depressing  another's  fortune. 

A  man  that  is  busy  and  inquisitive  is  commonly 
envious.  For  to  know  much  of  other  men's  matters 
cannot  be  because  all  that  ado  may  concern  his  own 
estate  ;  therefore  it  must  needs  be  that  he  taketh  a 
kind  of  play-pleasure  ^  in  looking  upon  the  fortunes  of 
others.  Neither  can  he  that  mindeth  but  his  own  busi- 
ness find  much  matter  for  envy.  For  envy  is  a  gad- 
ding passion,  and  walketh  the  streets,  and  doth  not 
keep  home  :  Non  est  curiosus^  quin  idem  sit  malevolus  : 
[There  is  no  curious  man  but  has  some  malevolence 
to  quicken  his  curiosity.] 

Men  of  noble  birth  are  noted  to  be  envious  towards 
new  men  when  they  rise.  For  the  distance  is  altered ; 
and  it  is  like  a  deceit  of  the  eye,  that  when  others  come 
on  they  think  themselves  go  back. 

Deformed  persons,  and  eunuchs,  and  old  men,  and 
bastards,  are  envious.  For  he  that  cannot  possibly 
mend  his  own  case  will  do  what  he  can  to  impair  an- 

1  Scenicam  qtmndam  voluptaiem. 


OF  ENVY.  105 

other's ;  except  these  defects  light  upon  a  very  brave 
and  heroical  nature,  which  thinketh  to  make  his  nat- 
ural wants  part  of  his  honour ;  in  that  it  should  be 
said,  that  an  eunuch,  or  a  larne  man,  did  such  great 
matters ;  affecting  the  honour  of  a  miracle  ;  as  it  was 
in  Narses  the  eunuch,  and  Agesilaus  and  Tamberlanes, 
that  were  lame  men. 

The  same  is  the  case  of  men  that  rise  after  calami- 
ties and  misfortunes.  For  they  are  as  men  fallen  out 
with  the  times ;  and  think  other  men's  harms  a  redemp- 
tion of  their  own  sufferings. 

They  that  desire  to  excel  in  too  many  matters,  out 
of  levity  and  vain  glory,  are  ever  envious.  For  they 
cannot  want  work ;  ^  it  being  impossible  but  many  in 
some  one  of  those  things  should  surpass  them.  Which 
was  the  character  of  Adrian  the  Emperor ;  that  mor- 
tally envied  poets  and  painters  and  artificers,  in  works 
wherein  he  had  a  vein  to  excel. 

Lastly,  near  kinsfolks,  and  fellows  in  office,  and 
those  that  have  been  bred  together,  are  more  apt  to 
envy  their  equals  when  they  are  raised.  For  it  doth 
upbraid  unto  them  their  own  fortunes,  and  pointeth  at 
them,  and  conieth  oftener  into  their  remembrance,  and 
incurreth  likewise  more  into  the  note  of  others ;  and 
envy  ever  redoubleth  from  speech  and  fame.  Cain's 
envy  was  the  more  vile  and  malignant  towards  his 
brother  Abel,  because  when  his  sacrifice  was  better 
accepted  there  was  no  body  to  look  on.  Thus  much 
for  those  that  are  apt  to  envy. 

Concerning  those  that  are  more  or  less  subject  to 
envy :    First,  persons  of  eminent  virtue,   when    they 

1  i.  e.  Matter  for  envy  to  work  upon :  vbique  enim  occurruni  objecta  in- 
vidice. 


106  OF  ENVY. 

are  advanced,  are  less  envied.  For  their  fortune  seem- 
etli  but  due  unto  them  ;  and  no  man  envieth  the 
payment  of  a  debt,  but  rewards  and  liberahty  rather.^ 
Again,  envy  is  ever  joined  with  the  comparing  of  a 
man's  self;  and  where  there  is  no  comparison,  no 
envy  ;  and  therefore  kings  are  not  envied  but  by  kings. 
Nevertheless  it  is  to  be  noted  that  unworthy  persons 
are  most  envied  at  their  first  coming  in,  and  afterwards 
overcome  it  better  ;  ^  whereas  contrariwise,  persons  of 
worth  and  merit  are  most  envied  when  their  fortune 
continueth  long.  For  by  that  time,  though  their  ^■irtue 
be  the  same,  yet  it  hath  not  the  same  lustre ;  for  fresh 
men  grow  up  that  darken  it. 

Persons  of  noble  blood  are  less  envied  in  their  rising. 
For  it  seemeth  but  right  done  to  their  birth.^  Besides, 
there  seemeth  not  much  added  to  their  fortune ;  and 
envy  is  as  the  sunbeams,  that  beat  hotter  upon  a  bank 
or  steep  rising  ground,  than  upon  a  flat.  And  for  the 
same  reason  those  that  are  advanced  by  degrees  are  less 
envied  than  those  that  are  advanced  suddenly  and  per 
saltum. 

Those  that  have  joined  with  their  honour  great  trav- 
els, cares,  or  perils,  are  less  subject  to  envy.  For  men 
think  that  they  earn  their  honours  hardly,  and  pity 
them  sometimes  ;  and  pity  ever  healeth  envy.  Where- 
fore you  shall  observe  that  the  more  deep  and  sober  ^ 
sort  of  politic  persons,  in  their  greatness,  are  ever  be- 
moaning themselves,  what  a  life  they  lead  ;  chanting  a 
quanta  patimur.  Not  that  they  feel  it  so,  but  only  to 
abate  the  edge  of  envy.     But  this  is  to  be  understood 

1  sed  largitioni  supra  merituni. 

^  postea  vero  minus. 

8  nihil  aliud  videtur  quam  debitum  majoribus  suis  repensum. 

4  maffis  sanos  ac  sobj'ios. 


OF  ENVY.  107 

of  business  that  is  laid  upon  men,  and  not  such  as  they 
call  unto  themselves.  For  nothing  increaseth  envy 
more  than  an  unnecessary  and  ambitious  engrossing 
of  business.  And  nothing  doth  extinguish  envy  more 
than  for  a  great  person  to  preserve  all  other  inferior 
officers  in  their  full  rights  and  preeminences  of  their 
places.  For  by  that  means  there  be  so  many  screens 
between  him  and  envy. 

Above  all,  those  are  most  subject  to  envy,  which 
carry  the  greatness  of  their  fortunes  in  an  insolent  and 
proud  manner ;  being  never  well  but  while  they  are 
shewing  how  great  they  are,  either  by  outward  pomp, 
or  by  triumphing  over  all  opposition  or  competition ; 
whereas  wise  men  will  rather  do  sacrifice  to  envy,  in 
suffering  themselves  sometimes  of  purpose  to  be  crossed 
and  overborne  in  things  that  do  not  much  concern 
them. .  Notwithstanding  so  much  is  true,  that  the  car- 
riage of  greatness  in  a  plain  and  open  manner  (so  it  be 
without  arrogancy  and  vain  glory)  doth  draw  less  envy 
than  if  it  be  in  a  more  crafty  and  cunning  fashion. 
For  in  that  course  a  man  doth  but  disavow  fortune ; 
and  seemeth  to  be  conscious  of  his  own  want  in  worth  ;  ^ 
and  doth  but  teach  others  to  envy  him. 

Lastly,  to  conclude  this  part ;  as  we  said  in  the  be- 
ginning that  the  act  of  envy  had  somewhat  in  it  of 
witchcraft,  so  there  is  no  other  cure  of  envy  but  the 

1  nihihminus  Ulud  verum  est,  potentm  ostentatlonem  apertam  et  indissimu- 
latam  (modo  absit  arrogantia  et  gloria  inanis)  mirm'e  invidia  ktborare,  quam 
si  callide  et  quasi  furtim  se  notm  subtrahat.  Etenim  hoc  cum  Jit,  nihil  aliud 
facit  quis  quam  ut  fortunam  insimulet,  quasi  ipse  sibi  esset  conscius  indigni- 
tatis  suce.  The  undisguised  assumption  and  display  of  greatness  is  less 
subject  to  envy  than  any  furtive  attempt  to  withdraw  it  from  observation: 
for  by  seeming  to  be  ashamed  of  his  position,  a  man  admits  that  he  is  un- 
worthy of  it;  and  so  "disavows"  (i.  e.  declines  to  justify)  or  impeaches 
{i.  e.  throws  the  blame  upon)  fortune. 


108  OF  ENVY. 

cure  of  witchcraft ;  and  that  is,  to  remove  the  lot  (as 
they  call  it)  and  to  lay  it  upon  another.  For  which 
purpose,  the  wiser  sort  of  great  persons  bring  in  ever 
upon  the  stage  somebody  upon  whom  to  derive^  the 
envy  that  would  come  upon  themselves  ;  sometimes 
upon  ministers  and  servants ;  sometimes  upon  col- 
leagues and  associates ;  and  the  like ;  and  for  that  turn 
there  are  never  wanting  some  persons  of  violent  and 
undertaking  natures,  who,  so  they  may  have  power 
and  business,  will  take  it  at  any  cost. 

Now,  to  speak  of  public  envy.  There  is  yet  some 
good  in  public  envy,  whereas  in  private  there  is  none. 
For  public  envy  is  as  an  ostracism,  that  eclipseth  men 
when  they  grow  too  great.  And  therefore  it  is  a  bridle 
also  to  great  ones,  to  keep  them  within  bounds. 

This  envy,  being  in  the  Latin  word  invidia,  goeth  in 
the  modem  languages  by  the  name  of  discontentment; 
of  which  we  shall  speak  in  handling  Sedition.  It  is  a 
disease  in  a  state  like  to  infection.  For  as  infection 
spreadeth  upon  that  which  is  sound,  and  tainteth  it ;  so 
when  envy  is  gotten  once  into  a  state,  it  traduceth  even 
the  best  actions  thereof,  and  turneth  them  into  an  ill 
odour.  And  therefore  there  is  little  won  by  inter- 
mingling of  plausible  actions.  For  that  doth  argue 
but  a  weakness  and  fear  of  envy,  which  hurteth  so 
much  the  more  ;  as  it  is  likewise  usual  in  infections  ; 
which  if  you  fear  them,  you  call  them  upon  you. 

This  public  envy  seemeth  to  beat  chiefly  upon  prin- 
cipal officers  or  ministers,  rather  than  upon  kings  and 
estates  themselves.  But  this  is  a  sure  rule,  that  if  the 
envy  upon  the  minister  be  great,  when  the  cause  of  it 
in  him  is  small ;  or  if  the  envy  be  general  in  a  man- 

1  Turn  from  its  course. 


OF  LOVE.  109 

ner  upon  all  the  ministers  of  an  estate ;  then  the  envy 
(though  hidden)  is  truly  upon  the  state  itself.  And 
so  much  of  public  envy  or  discontentment,  and  the  dif- 
ference thereof  from  private  envy,  which  was  handled 
in  the  first  place. 

We  will  add  this  in  general,  touching  the  affection 
of  envy ;  that  of  all  other  affections  it  is  the  most  im- 
portune and  continual.  For  of  other  affections  there  is 
occasion  given  but  now  and  then  ;  and  therefore  it  was 
well  said,  Invidia  festos  dies  non  agit :  [Envy  keeps  no 
holidays  :]  for  it  is  ever  working  upon  some  or  other. 
And  it  is  also  noted  that  love  and  envy  do  make  a  man 
pine,  which  other  affections  do  not,  because  they  are 
not  so  continual.  It  is  also  the  vilest  affection,  and  the 
most  depraved ;  for  which  cause  it  is  the  proper  attri- 
bute of  the  devil,  who  is  called  The  envious  man^  that 
soiveth  tares  amongst  the  wheat  hy  night ;  as  it  always 
Cometh  to  pass,  that  envy  worketh  subtilly,  and  in 
the  dark ;  and  to  the  prejudice  of  good  things,  such 
as  is  the  wheat. 


X.    Of  Love. 

The  stage  is  more  beholding  to  Love,  than  the  life  of 
man.  For  as  to  the  stage,  love  is  ever  matter  of  come- 
dies, and  now  and  then  of  tragedies ;  but  in  life  it  doth 
much  mischief;  sometimes  like  a  syren,  sometimes  like 
a  fury.  You  may  observe,  that  amongst  all  the  great 
and  worthy  persons  (whereof  the  memory  remaineth, 
either  ancient  or  recent,)  there  is  not  one  that  hath 
been  transported  to  the  mad  degree  of  love  :  which 
shews  that  great  spirits  and  great  business  do  keep 


110  OF  LOVE. 

out  this  weak  passion.  You  must  except  nevertheless 
Marcus  Antonius,  the  half  partner  of  the  empire  of 
Rome,  and  Appius  Claudius,  the  decemvir  and  law- 
giver ;  ^  whereof  the  former  was  indeed  a  voluptuous 
man,  and  inordinate ;  but  the  latter  was  an  austere 
and  wise  man  :  and  therefore  it  seems  (though  rarely) 
that  love  can  find  entrance  not  only  into  an  open  heart, 
but  also  into  a  heart  well  fortified,  if  watch  be  not  well 
kept.  It  is  a  poor  ^  saying  of  Epicurus,  Satis  magnum 
alter  alteri  theatrum  sumus :  [Each  is  to  other  a  theatre 
large  enough]  ;  as  if  man,  made  for  the  contemplation 
of  heaven  and  all  noble  objects,  should  do  nothing  but 
kneel  before  a  little  idol,  and  make  himself  a  subject, 
though  not  of  the  mouth  (as  beasts  are),  yet  of  the 
eye  ;  which  was  given  him  for  higher  purposes.  It  is 
a  strange  thing  to  note  the  excess  of  this  passion,  and 
how  it  braves  the  nature  and  value  of  things,  by  this  ; 
that  the  speaking  in  a  perpetual  hyperbole  is  comely 
in  nothing  but  in  love.  Neither  is  it  merely  in  the 
phrase  ;  for  whereas  it  hath  been  well  said  that  the 
arch-flatterer,  with  whom  all  the  petty  flatterers  have 
intelligence,  is  a  man's  self;  certainly  the  lover  is  more. 
For  there  w^as  never  proud  man  thought  so  absurdly 
well  of  himself  as  the  lover  doth  of  the  person  loved  ; 
and  therefore  it  was  well  said.  That  it  is  impossible  to 
hve  and  to  be  wise.^  Neither  doth  this  weakness  appear 
to  others  only,  and  not  to  the  party  loved ;  but  to  the 
loved  most  of  all,  except  the  love  be  reciproque.  For 
it  is  a  true  rule,  that  love  is  ever  rewarded  either  with 
the  reciproque  or  with  an  inward  and  secret  contempt. 

1  legislatorum  apud  Romanos  principem. 

2  abjectum  et  pusillanimum. 

8  Recte  itaque  receptum  est  illud  dwerbium :  Amare  et  sapere  vix  Deo  con- 
ceditur. 


OF   GREAT  PLACE.  HI 

By  how  much  the  more  men  ought  to  beware  of  this 
passion,  which  loseth  not  only  other  things,  but  itself. 
As  for  the  other  losses,  the  poet's  relation  doth  well 
figure  them  ;  That  he  that  preferred  Helena,  quitted 
the  gifts  of  Juno  and  Pallas.  For  whosoever  esteem- 
eth  too  much  of  amorous  affection  quitteth  both  riches 
and  wisdom.  This  passion  hath  his  floods  in  the  very 
times  of  weakness  ;  which  are  great  prosperity  and 
gi'eat  adversity  ;  though  this  latter  hath  been  less  ob- 
served :  both  which  times  kindle  love,  and  make  it 
more  fervent,  and  therefore  shew  it  to  be  the  child  of 
folly.  They  do  best,  who  if  they  cannot  but  admit 
love,  yet  make  it  keep  quarter  ;  and  sever  it  wholly 
from  their  serious  affairs  and  actions  of  life  ;  for  if  it 
check  once  with  business,  it  troubleth  men's  fortunes, 
and  maketh  men  that  they  can  no  ways  be  true  to 
their  own  ends.  I  know  not  how,  but  martial  men  are 
given  to  love :  I  think  it  is  but  as  they  are  given  to 
wine  ;  for  perils  commonly  ask  to  be  paid  in  pleasures. 
There  is  in  man's  nature  a  secret  inclination  and  mo- 
tion towards  love  of  others,  which  if  it  be  not  spent 
upon  some  one  or  a  few,  doth  naturally  spread  itself 
towards  many,  and  maketh  men  become  humane  and 
charitable  ;  as  it  is  seen  sometime  in  friars.  Nuptial 
love  maketh  mankind  ;  friendly  love  perfecteth  it ;  but 
wanton  love  corrupteth  and  embaseth  it. 


XI.    Of  Great  Place. 

Men  in  great  place  are  thrice  servants  :  servants  of 
the  sovereign  or  state  ;  servants  of  fame ;  and  servants 
of  business.     So  as  they  have  no  freedom  ;  neither  in 


112  OF   GREAT  PLACE. 

their  persons,  nor  in  their  actions,  nor  in  their  times. 
It  is  a  strange  desire,  to  seek  power  and  to  lose  hberty: 
or  to  seek  power  over  others  and  to  lose  power  over  a 
man's  self.  The  rising  unto  place  is  laborious  ;  and  by 
pains  men  come  to  greater  pains  ;  and  it  is  sometimes 
base  ;  and  by  indignities  men  come  to  dignities.  The 
standing  is  slippery,  and  the  regress  is  either  a  down- 
fall, or  at  least  an  eclipse,  which  is  a  melancholy  thing. 
Cum  non  sis  quifueris^  non  esse  cur  velis  vivere:  [When 
a  man  feels  that  he  is  no  longer  what  he  was,  he  loses 
all  his  interest  in  life.]  Nay,  retire  men  cannot  when 
they  would,  neither  will  they  when  it  were  reason  ; 
but  are  impatient  of  privateness,  even  in  age  and  sick- 
ness, which  require  the  shadow ;  like  old  townsmen, 
that  will  be  still  sitting  at  their  street  door,  though 
thereby  they  offer  age  to  scorn.  Certainly  great  per- 
sons had  need  to  borrow  other  men's  opinions,  to  think 
themselves  happy  ;  for  if  they  judge  by  their  own  feel- 
ing, they  cannot  find  it :  but  if  they  think  with  them- 
selves what  other  men  think  of  them,  and  that  other 
men  would  fain  be  as  they  are,  then  they  are  happy  as 
it  were  by  report ;  when  perhaps  they  find  the  contrary 
within.  For  they  are  the  first  that  find  their  own 
griefs,  though  they  be  the  last  that  find  their  own 
faults.  Certainly  men  in  great  fortunes  are  strangers 
to  themselves,  and  while  they  are  in  the  puzzle  of  busi- 
ness they  have  no  time  to  tend  their  health  either  of 
body  or  mind.  Illi  mors  gravis  incubat^  qui  notus  nimis 
omnibus,  ignotus  moritur  sibi :  [It  is  a  sad  fate  for  a 
man  to  die  too  well  known  to  every-body  else,  and  still 
unknown  to  himself.]  In  place  there  is  licence  to 
do  good  and  evil ;  whereof  the  latter  is  a  curse :  for 
in  evil  the  best  condition  is  not  to  will  ;   the  second 


OF  GREAT  PLACE.  113 

not  to  can.  But  power  to  do  good  is  the  true  and  law- 
ful end  of  aspiring.  For  good  thoughts  (though  God 
accept  them)  yet  towards  men  are  little  better  than 
good  dreams,  except  they  be  put  in  act ;  and  that  can- 
not be  without  power  and  place,  as  the  vantage  and 
commanding  ground.  Merit  and  good  works  is  the 
end  of  man's  motion ;  and  conscience  of  the  same  is 
the  accomphshment  of  man's  rest.  For  if  a  man  can 
be  partaker  of  God's  theatre,  he  shall  likewise  be  par- 
taker of  God's  rest.  Et  conversus  Deus,  ut  aspiceret 
opera  quce  fecerunt  manus  suce,  vidit  quod  omnia  essent 
bona  nimis;  [And  God  turned  to  look  upon  the  works 
which  his  hands  had  made,  and  saw  that  all  were  very 
good  ;]  and  then  the  sabbath.  In  the  discharge  of  thy 
place  set  before  thee  the  best  examples ;  for  imitation 
is  a  globe  of  precepts.  And  after  a  time  set  before 
thee  thine  own  example  ;  and  examine  thyself  strictly 
whether  thou  didst  not  best  at  first.  Neglect  not  also 
the  examples  of  those  that  have  carried  themselves  ill 
in  the  same  place  ;  not  to  set  off  thyself  by  taxing  their 
memory,  but  to  direct  thyself  what  to  avoid.  Reform 
therefore,  without  bravery  ^  or  scandal  of  former  times 
and  persons ;  but  yet  set  it  down  to  thyself  as  well  to 
create  good  precedents  as  to  follow  them.  Reduce 
things  to  the  first  institution,  and  observe  wherein  and 
how  they  have  degenerate ;  but  yet  ask  counsel  of  both 
times  ;  of  the  ancient  time,  what  is  best ;  and  of  the 
latter  time,  what  is  fittest.  Seek  to  make  thy  course 
regular,^  that  men  may  know  beforehand  what  they 
may  expect ;  but  be  not  too  positive  and  peremptory  ; 

1  sed  absque  elatione  tui  ipsius. 

2  Contende  ut  quce  agis  pro  Potestate  tanquam  regulis  qmbmdam  cohibe- 
antwr ;  ut  hominibus  tanquam  digito  monstres,  quid  illis  sit  expectandum. 

VOL.  XII.  8 


114  OF   GREAT  PLACE. 

and  express  thyself  well  when  thou  digressest  from  thy 
rule.  Preserve  the  right  of  thy  place ;  but  stir  not 
questions  of  jurisdiction  :  and  rather  assume  thy  right 
in  silence  and  de  facto ^  than  voice  it  with  claims  and 
challenges.  Preserve  likewise  the  rights  of  inferior 
places ;  and  think  it  more  honour  to  direct  in  chief 
than  to  be  busy  in  all.  Embrace  and  invite  helps  and 
advices  touching  the  execution  of  thy  place ;  and  do 
not  drive  away  such  as  bring  thee  information,  as  med- 
dlers ;  but  accept  of  them  in  good  part.  The  vices  of 
authority  are  chiefly  four  ;  delays,  corruption,  rough- 
ness, and  facility.  For  delays ;  give  easy  access  ;  keep 
times  appointed ;  go  through  with  that  which  is  in 
hand,  and  interlace  not  business  but  of  necessity.  For 
corruption ;  do  not  only  bind  thine  own  hands  or  thy 
servants'  hands  from  taking,  but  bind  the  hands  of 
suitors  also  from  offering.  For  integrity  used  doth  the 
one  ;  but  integrity  professed,  and  with  a  manifest  det- 
estation of  bribery,  doth  the  other.  And  avoid  not 
only  the  fault,  but  the  suspicion.  Whosoever  is  found 
variable,  and  changeth  manifestly  without  manifest 
cause,  giveth  suspicion  of  corruption.  Therefore  al- 
ways when  thou  changest  thine  opinion  or  course,  pro- 
fess it  plainly,  and  declare  it,  together  with  the  reasons 
that  move  thee  to  change ;  and  do  not  think  to  steal  it. 
A  servant  or  a  favourite,  if  he  be  inward,  and  no  other 
apparent  cause  of  esteem,  is  commonly  thought  but  a 
by-way  to  close  corruption.  For  roughness ;  it  is  a 
needless  cause  of  discontent :  ^  severity  breedeth  fear, 
but  roughness  breedeth  hate.  Even  reproofs  from 
authority  ought  to  be  grave,  and  not  taunting.  As 
for  facility  ;  it  is  worse  than  bribery.     For  bribes  come 

1  invidiam  et  malevolentiam  parit  ilia,  nihil  inde  metens. 


OF   GREAT  PLACE.  115 

but  now  and  then  ;  but  if  importunity  or  idle  respects 
lead  a  man,  he  shall  never  be  without.  As  Salomon 
saith,  To  respect  persons  is  not  good;  for  such  a  man 
will  transgress  for  a  piece  of  bread.  It  is  most  true  that 
was  anciently  spoken,  A  place  sheweth  the  man.  And 
it  sheweth  some  to  the  better,  and  some  to  the  worse. 
Omnium  consensu  capax  imperii^  nisi  imperasset,  [a 
man  whom  every  body  would  have  thought  fit  for 
empire  if  he  had  not  been  emperor,]  saith  Tacitus  of 
Galba ;  but  of  Vespasian  he  saith,  jSoIus  imperantium^ 
Vespasianus  mutatus  in  melius:  [He  was  the  only 
emperor  whom  the  possession  of  power  changed  for  the 
better  ;  ]  though  the  one  was  meant  of  sufficiency,^  the 
other  of  manners  and  affection.  It  is  an  assured  sign 
of  a  worthy  and  generous  spirit,  whom  honour  amends. 
For  honour  is,  or  should  be,  the  place  of  virtue  ;  and 
as  in  nature  things  move  violently  to  their  place  and 
calmly  in  their  place,  so  virtue  in  ambition  is  violent, 
in  authority  settled  and  calm.  All  rising  to  great  place 
is  by  a  winding  stair ;  and  if  there  be  factions,  it  is 
good  to  side  a  man's  self  whilst  he  is  in  the  rising,  and 
to  balance  himself  when  he  is  placed.  Use  the  mem- 
ory of  thy  predecessor  fairly  and  tenderly  ;  for  if  thou 
dost  not,  it  is  a  debt  will  sure  be  paid  when  thou  art 
gone.  If  thou  have  colleagues,  respect  them,  and 
rather  call  them  when  they  look  not  for  it,  than  ex- 
clude them  when  they  have  reason  to  look  to  be  called. 
Be  not  too  sensible  or  too  remembering  of  thy  place  in 
conversation  and  private  answers  to  suitors  ;  ^  but  let  it 
rather  be  said,  WTien  he  sits  in  place  he  is  another  man. 

1  de  arte  tmperatorid. 

2  in  guotidianis  sermon^ms  aut  conversaMone  privatd. 


116  OF  BOLDNESS. 


XII.    Of  Boldness. 


It  is  a  trivial  grammar-school  text,  but  yet  worthy 
a  wise  man's  consideration.  Question  was  asked  of 
Demosthenes,  what  was  the  chief  part  of  an  orator? 
he  answered,  action :  what  next  ?  action :  what  next 
again  ?  action.  He  said  it  that  knew  it  best,  and  had 
by  nature  himself  no  advantage  in  that  he  commended. 
A  strange  thing,  that  that  part  of  an  orator  which  is 
but  superficial,  and  rather  the  virtue  of  a  player,  should 
be  placed  so  high,  above  those  other  noble  parts  of  in- 
vention, elocution,  and  the  rest ;  nay  almost  alone,  as 
if  it  were  all  in  all.  But  the  reason  is  plain.  There 
is  in  human  nature  generally  more  of  the  fool  than  of 
the  wise ;  and  therefore  those  faculties  by  which  the 
foolish  part  of  men's  minds  is  taken  are  most  potent. 
Wonderful  like  is  the  case  of  Boldness,  in  civil  busi- 
ness; what  first?  Boldness:  what  second  and  third? 
Boldness.  And  yet  boldness  is  a  child  of  ignorance 
and  baseness,  far  inferior  to  other  parts.  But  never- 
theless it  doth  fascinate  and  bind  hand  and  foot  those 
that  are  either  shallow  in  judgment  or  weak  in  courage, 
which  are  the  greatest  part ;  yea  and  prevaileth  with 
wise  men  at  weak  times.  Therefore  we  see  it  hath 
done  wonders  in  popular  states  ;  but  with  senates  and 
princes  less ;  and  more  ever  upon  the  first  entrance  of 
bold  persons  into  action  than  soon  after ;  for  boldness  is 
an  ill  keeper  of  promise.  Surely  as  there  are  mounte- 
banks for  the  natural  body,  so  are  there  mountebanks 
for  the  politic  body ;  men  that  undertake  great  cures, 
and  perhaps  have  been  lucky  in  two  or  three  experi- 
ments, but  want  the  grounds  of  science,  and  therefore 
cannot  hold  out.      Nay  you  shall   see  a  bold  fellow 


OF  BOLDNESS.  117 

many  times  do  Mahomet's  miracle.  Mahomet  made 
the  people  believe  that  he  would  call  an  hill  to  him, 
and  from  the  top  of  it  offer  up  his  prayers  for  the  ob- 
servers of  his  law.  The  people  assembled  ;  Mahomet 
called  the  hill  to  come  to  him,  again  and  again  ;  and 
when  the  hill  stood  still,  he  was  never  a  whit  abashed, 
but  said,  If  the  hill  will  not  come  to  Mahomet^  Mahomet 
will  go  to  the  hill.  So  these  men,  when  they  have  prom- 
ised great  matters  and  failed  most  shamefully,  yet  (if 
they  have  the  perfection  of  boldness)  they  will  but 
slight  it  over,  and  make  a  turn,  and  no  more  ado. 
Certainly  to  men  of  great  judgment,  bold  persons  are  a 
sport  to  behold ;  nay  and  to  the  vulgar  also,  boldness 
has  somewhat  of  the  ridiculous.  For  if  absurdity  be 
the  subject  of  laughter,  doubt  you  not  but  great  bold- 
ness is  seldom  without  some  absurdity.  Especially  it 
is  a  sport  to  see,  when  a  bold  fellow  is  out  of  counte- 
nance ;  for  that  puts  his  face  into  a  most  shrunken  and 
wooden  posture  ;  ^  as  needs  it  must ;  for  in  bashfulness 
the  spirits  do  a  little  go  and  come  ;  but  with  bold  men, 
upon  like  occasion,  they  stand  at  a  stay ;  like  a  stale  at 
chess,  where  it  is  no  mate,  but  yet  the  game  cannot 
stir.  But  this  last  were  fitter  for  a  satire  than  for  a 
serious  observation.  This  is  well  to  be  weighed ;  that 
boldness  is  ever  blind ;  for  it  seeth  not  dangers  and  in- 
conveniences. Therefore  it  is  ill  in  counsel,  good  in 
execution  ;  so  that  the  right  use  of  bold  persons  is, 
that  they  never  command  in  chief,  but  be  seconds,  and 
under  the  direction  of  others.  For  in  counsel  it  is  good 
to  see  dangers ;  and  in  execution  not  to  see  them,  ex- 
cept they  be  very  great. 

1  mUum  enim  tunc  nancisdtur  in  se  reductum,  sed  defbrmiter. 


118    OF  GOODNESS  AND  GOODNESS  OF  NATURE. 

XIII.    Of  Goodness  and  Goodness  of  Nature. 

I  take  Goodness  in  this  sense,  the  affecting  of  the 
weal  of  men,  which  is  that  the  Grecians  call  Philarir 
thropia;  and  the  word  humanity  (as  it  is  used)  is  a 
little  too  light  ^  to  express  it.  Goodness  I  call  the 
habit,  and  Goodness  of  Nature  the  inclination.  This 
of  all  virtues  and  dignities  of  the  mind  is  the  greatest ; 
being  the  character  of  the  Deity :  and  without  it  man  ^ 
is  a  busy,  mischievous,  wretched  thing  ;  no  better  than 
a  kind  of  vermin.  Goodness  answers  to  the  theologi- 
cal virtue  Charity,  and  admits  no  excess,  but  error. 
The  desire  of  power  in  excess  caused  the  angels  to  fall ; 
the  desire  of  knowledge  in  excess  caused  man  to  fall  : 
but  in  charity  there  is  no  excess ;  neither  can  angel  or 
man  come  in  danger  by  it.  The  inclination  to  good- 
ness is  imprinted  deeply  in  the  nature  of  man ;  inso- 
much that  if  it  issue  not  towards  men,  it  will  take  unto 
other  living  creatures ;  as  it  is  seen  in  the  Turks,  a 
cruel  people,  who  nevertheless  are  kind  to  beasts,  and 
give  alms  to  dogs  and  birds ;  insomuch  as  Busbechius 
reporteth,  a  Christian  boy  in  Constantinople  had  like 
to  have  been  stoned  for  gagging  in  a  waggishness  a 
long-billed  fowl.^  Errors  indeed  in  this  virtue  of  good- 
ness or  charity  may  be  committed.  The  Italians  have 
an  ungracious  proverb,  Tanto  huon  che  vol  niente;  So 
goody  that  he  is  good  for  nothing.     And  one  of  the  doc- 

1  levins  aliquanto  et  angustitts. 

2  homo  animalis. 

8  The  Latin  translation  has,  more  correctly,  adeo  ut  (referente  Busbequio) 
aurifex  quidam  Venetus,  Byzantii  agens,  vix  furorem  pqpuU  effugerit,  qtwd 
avis  cujusdam  rostri  oblongi  fauces  inserto  baculo  diduxisset.  The  bird  was  a 
goat-sucker,  which  the  goldsmith  ("homo  alioqui  ridiculus")  fastened  over 
his  door  with  wings  spread  and  jaws  distended.  The  story  will  be  found 
in  Busbequius's  letter  from  Constantinople,  p.  179  of  ed.  1633. 


OF  GOODNESS  AND  GOODNESS  OF  NATURE.    119 

tors  of  Italy,^  Nicholas  Machiavel,  had  the  confidence 
to  put  in  writing,  almost  in  plain  terms,  That  the  Chris- 
tian faith  had  given  up  good  men  in  prey  to  those  that 
are  tyrannical  and  unjust.     Which  he  spake,  because 
indeed  there  was  never  law,  or  sect,  or  opinion,  did  so 
much  magnify  goodness,  as  the  Christian  religion  doth. 
Therefore,  to  avoid  the  scandal  and  the  danger  both, 
it  is  good  to  take  knowledge  of  the  errors  of  an  habit 
so  excellent.     Seek  the  good  of  other  men,  but  be  not 
in  bondage  to  their  faces  or  fancies ;   for  that  is  but 
facility  or  softness  ;   which  taketh  an  honest  mind  pris- 
oner.     Neither  give  thou  JEsop's  cock  a  gem,  who 
would  be  better  pleased  and  happier  if  he  had  a  barley- 
corn.    The  example  of  God  teacheth  the  lesson  truly  ; 
He  sendeth  his  rain,  and  maketh  his  sun  to  shine,  upon 
the  just  and  unjust ;  but  he  doth  not  rain  wealth,  nor 
shine  honour  and  virtues,  upon  men  equally.    Common 
benefits  are  to  be  communicate  with  all ;  but  peculiar 
benefits  with  choice.     And  beware  how  in  making  the 
portraiture  thou  breakest  the  pattern.      For  divinity 
maketh  the  love  of  ourselves  the  pattern ;  the  love  of 
our  neighbours  but  the  portraiture.     Sell  all  thou  hast, 
and  give  it  to  the  poor,  and  follow  me :  but  sell  not  all 
thou  hast,  except  thou  come  and  follow  me;   that  is, 
except  thou  have  a  vocation  wherein  thou  mayest  do  as 
much  good  with  little  means  as  with  great ;  for  other- 
wise in  feeding  the  streams  thou  driest  the  fountain. 
Neither  is  there  only  a  habit  of  goodness,  directed  by 
right  reason ;  but  there  is  in  some  men,  even  in  nature, 
a  disposition  towards  it ;  as  on  the  other  side  there  is  a 


1  These  words  are  omitted  in  the  translation ;  no  doubt  as  likely  to  give 
offence  at  Rome.  The  Italian  translation  has  "quel  empio  Nicolo  Mac- 
ciavello." 


120         OF  GOODNESS  AND  GOODNESS  OF  NATURE. 

natural  malignity.  For  there  be  that  in  their  nature 
do  not  affect  the  good  of  others.^  The  lighter  sort  of 
malignity  turneth  but  to  a  crossness,  or  frowardness,  or 
aptness  to  oppose,  or  difficilness,  or  the  like  ;  but  the 
deeper  sort  to  envy  and  mere  mischief.  Such  men  in 
other  men's  calamities  are,  as  it  were,  in  season,  and 
are  ever  on  the  loading  part :  ^  not  so  good  as  the  dogs 
that  licked  Lazarus'  sores  ;  but  like  flies  that  are  still 
buzzing  upon  any  thing  that  is  raw  ;  misanthropic^  that 
make  it  their  practice  to  bring  men  to  the  bough,  and 
yet  have  never  a  tree  for  the  purpose  in  their  gardens,* 
as  Timon  had.  Such  dispositions  are  the  very  err  ours 
of  human  nature  ;  ^  and  yet  they  are  the  fittest  timber 
to  make  great  politiques  of;  like  to  knee  timber,  that  is 
good  for  ships,  that  are  ordained  to  be  tossed  ;  but  not 
for  building  houses,  that  shall  stand  firm.  The  parts 
and  signs  of  goodness  are  many.  If  a  man  be  gracious 
and  courteous  to  strangers,  it  shews  he  is  a  citizen  of 
the  world,  and  that  his  heart  is  no  island  cut  off  from 
other  lands,  but  a  continent  that  joins  to  them.  If  he 
be  compassionate  towards  the  afflictions  of  others,  it 
shews  that  his  heart  is  like  the  noble  tree  that  is 
woimded  itself  when  it  gives  the  balm.  If  he  easily 
pardons  and  remits  offences,  it  shews  that  his  mind  is 
planted  above  injuries  ;  so  that  he  cannot  be  shot.  If 
he  be  thankful  for  small  benefits,  it  shews  that  he 
weighs  men's  minds,  and  not  their  trash.     But  above 

1  qui  ingenii propi'ii  instinctu  aversentur  alioi^m  honum. 

2  easque  semper  aggravant. 

8  Nonpaucos  reperias  misanthropos ;  quibus  volupe  est,  &c. 

4  That  is,  I  suppose,  without  openly  professing  it.  The  Italian  transla- 
tion introduces  the  word  palesemente  :  "  et  con  tutto  cio  non  hanno  palese- 
mente  nei  loro  giardini  a  tal  proposito  1'  albero  di  Timone." 

5  non  injuria  vocare  licet  humance  naturce  vomicas  et  carcinomata. 


OF  NOBILITY.  121 

all,  if  he  have  St.  Paul's  perfection,  that  he  would 
wish  to  be  an  anathema  from  Christ  for  the  salvation  of 
his  brethren,  it  shews  much  of  a  divine  nature,  and  a 
kind  of  conformity  with  Christ  himself. 


XIV.    Of  Nobility. 

We  will  speak  of  Nobi^'^-y  first  as  a  portion  of  an 
estate  ;  then  as  a  condition  of  particular  persons.  A 
monarchy  where  there  is  no  nobility  at  all,  is  ever  a 
pure  and  absolute  tyranny  ;  as  that  of  the  Turks.  For 
nobility  attempers  sovereignty,  and  draws  the  eyes  of 
the  people  somewhat  aside  from  the  line  royal.  But 
for  democracies,  they  need  it  not ;  and  they  are  com- 
monly more  quiet  and  less  subject  to  sedition,  than 
where  there  are  stirps  of  nobles.  For  men's  eyes  are 
upon  the  business,  and  not  upon  the  persons ;  or  if 
upon  the  persons,  it  is  for  the  business  sake,  as  fittest, 
and  not  for  flags  and  pedigree.^  We  see  the  Switzers 
last  well,  notwithstanding  their  diversity  of  religion 
and  of  cantons.  For  utility  is  their  bond,  and  not 
respects. 2  The  united  provinces  of  the  Low  Countries 
in  their  government  excel ;  for  where  there  is  an  equal- 
ity, the  consultations  are  more  indifferent,  and  the  pay- 
ments and  tributes  more  cheerful.  A  great  and  potent 
nobility  addeth  majesty  to  a  monarch,  but  diminish eth 
power ;  and  putteth  life  and  spirit  into  the  people,  but 
presseth  their  fortune.  It  is  well  when  nobles  are  not 
too   great   for   sovereignty   nor  for  justice  ;    and  yet 

1  vel  si  omnino  in  personas^  id  Jit  tanquam  in  maxime  idoneas  rebus  geren- 
<Us,  minime  vero  ut  ratio  habeatur  insignium  out  imaginum. 

2  dignitas. 


s. 


122  OF  NOBILITY. 

maintained  in  that  height,  as  the  insolency  of  inferiors 
maj  be  broken  upon  them  ^  before  it  come  on  too  fast 
upon  the  majesty  of  kings.  A  numerous  nobiHty 
causeth  poverty  and  inconvenience  in  a  state ;  ^  for  it  is 
a  surcharge  of  expense ;  and  besides,  it  being  of  neces- 
sity that  many  of  the  nobihty  fall  in  time  to  be  weak 
in  fortune,  it  maketh  a  kind  of  disproportion  between 
honour  and  means. 

As  for  nobility  in  particular  persons ;  it  is  a  reverend 
thing  to  see  an  ancient  castle  or  building  not  in  decay  ; 
or  to  see  a  fair  timber  tree  sound  and  perfect.  How 
much  more  to  behold  an  ancient  noble  family,  which 
hath  stood  against  the  waves  and  weathers  of  time. 
For  new  nobility  is  but  the  act  of  power,  but  ancient 
nobility  is  the  act  of  time.  Those  that  are  first 
raised  to  nobility  are  commonly  more  virtuous,  but 
less  innocent,  than  their  descendants  ;  ^  for  there  is 
rarely  any  rising  but  by  a  commixture  of  good  and  evil 
arts.  But  it  is  reason  the  memory  of  their  virtues 
remain  to  their  posterity,  and  their  faults  die  with 
themselves.  Nobility  of  birth  commonly  abateth  in- 
dustry ;  and  he  that  is  not  industrious,  envieth  him  that 
is.  Besides,  noble  persons  cannot  go  much  higher: 
and  he  that  standeth  at  a  stay  when  others  rise,  can 
hardly  avoid  motions  of  envy.  On  the  other  side, 
nobility  extinguisheth  the  passive  envy  from  others 
towards  them  ;  because  they  are  in  possession  of  hon- 
our.*    Certainly,  kings  that  have  able  men  of  their 

1  illorum  reverentid,  tanquam  ohice,  retundatur. 

2  Bursus  numerosa  nobilitas,  quae  plerumque  minus  potens  est,  statum  prorsus 
depauperat 

8  virtutum  claritudine  plerumque  posteris  eminent,  sed  innocentid  minime. 
4  That  is,  born  in  possession.    £o  quod  nobiles  in  honorum  possessione  nati 
videntur. 


OF  SEDITIONS  AND  TROUBLES.  123 

nobility  shall  find  ease  in  employing  them,  and  a  better 
slide  into  their  business  ;  ^  for  people  naturally  bend  to 
them,  as  born  in  some  sort  to  command. 


XV.    Of  Seditions  and  Troubles. 

Shepherds  of  people  had  need  know  the  calendars  ^ 
of  tempests  in  state ;  which  are  commonly  greatest 
when  things  grow  to  equality  ;  as  natural  tempests  are 
greatest  about  the  Equinoetia.  And  as  there  are  cer- 
tain hollow  ^  blasts  of  wind  and  secret  swellings  of  seas 
before  a  tempest,  so  are  there  in  states : 


lUe  etiam  csecos  instare  tumultus 


Saepe  monet,  fraudesque  et  operta  tumescere  bella. 

[Of  troubles  imminent  and  treasons  dark 

Thence  warning  comes,  and  wars  in  secret  gathering.] 

Libels  and  licentious  discourses  against  the  state,  when 
they  are  frequent  and  open ;  and  in  like  sort,  false 
news  often  running  up  and  down  to  the  disadvantage 
of  the  state,  and  hastily  embraced ;  are  amongst  the 
signs  of  troubles.  Virgil  giving  the  pedigree  of  Fame, 
saith  she  was  sister  to  the  Giants : 

lilam  Terra  parens,  ira  irritata  Deorum, 
Extremam  (ut  perhibent)  Coeo  Enceladoque  sororem 
Progenuit. 

As  if  fames  were  the  relics  of  seditions  past ;  but  they 
are  no  less  indeed  the  preludes  of  seditions  to  come. 
Howsoever  he  noteth  it  right,  that  seditious  tumults 
and  seditious  fames  differ  no  more  but  as  brother  and 

i  negotia  sua  mollitis  Jluere  sentient,  si  eos  potissimum  adhibeant, 

2  Prognosiica. 

3  caws,  et  veluti  a  hnginquo. 


124 


OF  SEDITIONS  AND  TROUBLES. 


sister,  masculine  and  feminine  ;  especially  if  it  come  to 
that,  that  the  best  actions  of  a  state,  and  the  most 
plausible,  and  which  ought  to  give  greatest  content- 
ment, are  taken  in  ill  sense,  and  traduced:  for  that 
shews  the  envy  great,  as  Tacitus  saith,  conflata  magna 
invidia,  seu  bene  seu  male  gesta  premunt :  [when  dislike 
prevails  against  the  government,  good  actions  and  bad 
offend  alike.]  Neither  doth  it  follow,  that  because 
these  fames  are  a  sign  of  troubles,  that  ^  the  suppress- 
ing of  them  with  too  much  severity  should  be  a  remedy 
of  troubles.  For  the  despising  of  them  many  times 
checks  them  best ;  and  the  going  about  to  stop  them 
doth  but  make  a  wonder  long-lived.^  Also  that  kind 
of  obedience  which  Tacitus  speaketh  of,  is  to  be  held 
suspected :  Erant  in  officio^  sed  tamen  qui  mallent  man- 
data  imperantium  interpretari  quam  exequi ;  [ready  to 
serve,  and  yet  more  disposed  to  construe  commands 
than  execute  them ;  ]  disputing,  excusing,  cavilling 
upon  mandates  and  directions,  is  a  kind  of  shaking  off 
the  yoke,  and  assay  of  disobedience ;  especially  if  in 
those  disputings  they  which  are  for  the  direction  speak 
fearfully  and  tenderly,  and  those  that  are  against  it 
audaciously. 

Also,  as  Machiavel  ^  noteth  well,  when  princes,  that 
ought  to  be  common  parents,  make  themselves  as  a 
party,  and  lean  to  a  side,  it  is  as  a  boat  that  is  over- 
thrown by  uneven  weight  on  the  one  side ;  as  was  well 
seen  in  the  time  of  Henry  the  Third  of  France ;  for 
first  himself  entered  league  for  the  extirpation  of  the 
Protestants  ;  and  presently  after  the  same  league  was 

1  So  in  original.    One  of  the  tlaaU  should  of  course  be  omitted. 

2  nihil  aliudfere  efficit  quam  ut  durent  magis. 

3  The  Italian  translation  omits  the  name  of  Machiavel,  and  says  only  un 
scHttore. 


OF  SEDITIONS  AND  TROUBLES.  125 

turned  upon  himself.  For  when  the  authority  of 
princes  is  made  but  an  accessary  to  a  cause,  and  that 
there  be  other  bands  that  tie  faster  than  the  band  of 
sovereignty,  kings  begin  to  be  put  almost  out  of  pos- 
session. 

Also,  when  discords,  and  quarrels,  and  factions,  are 
carried  openly  and  audaciously,  it  is  a  sign  the  rever- 
ence of  government  is  lost.  For  the  motions  of  the 
greatest  persons  in  a  government  ought  to  be  as  the 
motions  of  the  planets  under  primum  mobile;  (accord- 
ing to  the  old  opinion,)  which  is,  that  every  of  them  is 
carried  swiftly  by  the  highest  motion,  and  softly  in 
their  own  motion.^  And  therefore,  when  great  ones 
in  their  own  particular  motion  move  violently,  and,  as 
Tacitus  expresseth  it  well,  liberius  quam  ut  irnperantium 
meminissent,  [unrestrained  by  reverence  for  the  gov- 
ernment,] it  is  a  sign  the  orbs  are  out  of  frame.  For 
reverence  is  that  wherewith  princes  are  girt  from  God ; 
who  threateneth^  the  dissolving  thereof;  Solvam  ein- 
gula  regwm :    [I  will  unbind  the  girdles  of  kings.] 

So  when  any  of  the  four  pillars  of  government  are 
mainly  shaken  or  weakened  (which  are  Religion,  Jus- 
tice, Counsel,  and  Treasure),  men  had  need  to  pray  for 
fair  weather.  But  let  us  pass  from  this  part  of  predic- 
tions (concerning  which,  nevertheless,  more  light  may 
be  taken  from  that  which  followeth)  ;  and  let  us  speak 
first  of  the  Materials  of  seditions ;  then  of  the  Motives 
of  them ;  and  thirdly  of  the  Remedies. 

Concerning  the  Materials  of  seditions.     It  is  a  thing 

1  qui  rapide  quidem  circumferuntur  secundum  motum  primi  mobilis,  leniter 
autem  renituntur  in  motu  propria. 

2  That  is,  holds  it  out  as  a  threat.  A  manuscript  copy  of  this  Essay  in 
an  eariier  form  (which  will  be  given  in  the  Appendix)  has,  "  who  threat- 
eneth  the  dissolving  thereof  as  one  of  his  greatest  judgments." 


OF  SEDITIONS  AND  TROUBLES. 

well  to  be  considered ;  for  the  surest  way  to  prevent 
seditions  (if  the  times  do  bear  it)  is  to  take  away  the 
matter  of  them.  For  if  there  be  fuel  prepared,  it  is 
hard  to  tell  whence  the  spark  shall  come  that  shall 
set  it  on  fire.  The  matter  of  seditions  is  of  two 
kinds  ;  much  poverty  and  much  discontentment.  It  is 
certain,  so  many  overthrown  estates,  so  many  votes  for 
troubles.  Lucan  noteth  well  the  state  of  Rome  before 
the  civil  war, 

Hinc  usura  vorax,  rapidumque  in  tempore  foenus, 
Hinc  concussa  fides,  et  multis  utile  bellum : 


[estates  eaten  up  by  usurious  rates  of  interest,  credit 
shaken,  war  a  gain  to  many.] 

This  same  multis  utile  helium^  is  an  assured  and  in- 
fallible sign  of  a  state  disposed  to  seditions  and  troubles. 
And  if  this  poverty  and  broken  estate  in  the  better 
sort  be  joined  with  a  want  and  necessity  in  the  mean 
people,  the  danger  is  imminent  and  great.  For  the 
rebellions  of  the  belly  are  the  worst.  As  for  discon- 
tentments,^ they  are  in  the  politic  body  like  to  humours 
in  the  natural,  which  are  apt  to  gather  a  preternatural 
heat  and  to  inflame.  And  let  no  prince  measure  the 
danger  of  them  by  this,  whether  they  be  just  or  unjust : 
for  that  were  to  imagine  people  to  be  too  reasonable  ; 
who  do  often  spurn  at  their  own  good :  nor  yet  by  this, 
whether  the  griefs  whereupon  they  rise  be  in  fact  great 
or  small :  for  they  are  the  most  dangerous  discontent- 
ments where  the  fear  is  greater  than  the  feeling : 
Dolendi  modus,  timendi  non  item:  [Suffering  has  its 
limit,  but  fears  are  endless.]  Besides,  in  great  oppres- 
sions, the  same  things  that  provoke  the  patience,  do 

1  alienationes  animorum,  et  tcBdium  rerum  prcesentium. 


OF   SEDITIONS  AND   TROUBLES.  127 

withal  mate  the  courage ;  but  in  fears  it  is  not  so. 
Neither  let  any  prince  or  state  be  secure  concerning 
discontentments,  because  they  have  been  often,  or  have 
been  long,  and  yet  no  peril  hath  ensued :  for  as  it  is 
true  that  every  vapour  or  fume  doth  not  turn  into  a 
storm;  so  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  storms,  though 
they  blow  over  divers  times,  yet  may  fall  at  last ;  and, 
as  the  Spanish  proverb  noteth  well.  The  cord  hreakeih 
at  the  last  hy  the  weakest  pull. 

The  Causes  and  Motives  of  seditions  are,  innovation 
in  religion  ;  taxes  ;  alteration  of  laws  and  customs  ; 
breaking  of  privileges  ;  general  oppression  ;  advance- 
ment of  unworthy  persons  ;  strangers ;  dearths ;  dis- 
banded soldiers  ;  factions  grown  desperate  ;  and  what- 
soever, in  offending  people,  joineth  and  knitteth  them 
in  a  common  cause. 

For  the  Remedies  ;  there  may  be  some  general  pre- 
servatives, whereof  we  will  speak  :  as  for  the  just  cure, 
it  must  answer  to  the  particular  disease  ;  and  so  be  left 
to  counsel  rather  than  rule. 

The  first  remedy  or  prevention  is  to  remove  by  all 
means  possible  that  material  cause  of  sedition  whereof 
we  spake ;  which  is,  want  and  poverty  in  the  estate. 
To  which  purpose  serveth,  the  opening  and  well-bal- 
ancing of  trade  ;  the  cherishing  of  manufactures  ;  the 
banishing  of  idleness  ;  the  repressing  of  waste  and 
excess  by  sumptuary  laws  ;  the  improvement  and  hus- 
banding of  the  soil ;  the  regulating  of  prices  of  things 
vendible  ;  the  moderating  of  taxes  and  tributes,  and 
the  like.  Generally,  it  is  to  be  foreseen  that  the  popu- 
lation of  a  kingdom  (especially  if  it  be  not  mown  down 
by  wars)  do  not  exceed  the  stock  of  the  kingdom 
which  should  maintain  them.     Neither  is  the  popula- 


128  OF   SEDITIONS  AND  TROUBLES. 

tion  to  be  reckoned  only  by  number ;  for  a  smaller 
number  that  spend  more  and  earn  less,  do  wear  out  an 
estate  sooner  than  a  greater  number  that  live  lower 
and  gather  more.  Therefore  the  multiplying  of  nobil- 
ity and  other  degrees  of  quality  in  an  over  proportion 
to  the  common  people,  doth  speedily  bring  a  state  to 
necessity ;  and  so  doth  likewise  an  overgrown  clergy  ; 
for  they  bring  nothing  to  the  stock ;  and  in  like 
manner,  when  more  are  bred  scholars  than  preferments 
can  take  off. 

It  is  likewise  to  be  remembered,  that  forasmuch  as 
the  increase  of  any  estate  must  be  upon  the  foreigner 
(for  whatsoever  is  somewhere  gotten  is  somewhere 
lost),  there  be  but  three  things  which  one  nation  sell- 
eth  unto  another ;  the  commodity  as  nature  yieldeth 
it ;  the  manufacture ;  and  the  vecture,  or  carriage. 
So  that  if  these  three  wheels  go,  wealth  will  flow  as 
in  a  spring  tide.  And  it  cometh  many  times  to  pass, 
that  materiam  super  obit  opus ;  that  the  work  and  car- 
riage is  more  worth  than  the  material,  and  enricheth  a 
state  more;  as  is  notably  seen  in  the  Low-Countrymen, 
who  have  the  best  mines  above  ground  in  the  world. 

Above  all  things,  good  policy  is  to  be  used  that  the 
treasure  and  monies  in  a  state  be  not  gathered  into  few 
hands.  For  otherwise  a  state  may  have  a  great  stock, 
and  yet  starve.  And  money  is  like  muck,  not  good 
except  it  be  spread.  This  is  done  chiefly  by  suppress- 
ing, or  at  the  least  keeping  a  strait  hand  upon  the 
devouring  trades  of  usury,  ingrossing,^  great  pastu- 
rages, and  the  like. 

For  removing  discontentments,  or  at  least  the  dan- 
ger of  them ;  there  is  i..  every  state  (as  we  know)  two 

1  monqpoliorum. 


OF  SEDITIONS   AND   TROUBLES.  129 

portions  of  subjects  ;  tlie  nobless  and  the  commonalty. 
When  one  of  these  is  discontent,  the  danger  is  not 
great ;  for  common  people  are  of  slow  motion,  if  they 
be  not  excited  by  the  greater  sort ;  and  the  greater 
sort  are  of  small  strength,  except  the  multitude  be  apt 
and  ready  to  move  of  themselves.  Then  is  the  dan- 
ger, when  the  greater  sort  do  but  wait  for  the  troubling 
of  the  waters  amongst  the  naeaner,  that  then  they  may 
declare  themselves.  The  poets  feign,  that  the  rest  of 
the  gods  would  have  bound  Jupiter  ;  which  he  hearing 
of,  by  the  counsel  of  Pallas,  sent  for  Briareus,  with  his 
hundred  hands,  to  come  in  to  his  aid.  An  emblem,  no 
doubt,  to  show  how  safe  it  is  for  monarchs  to  make 
sure  of  the  good  will  of  common  people. 

To  give  moderate  liberty  for  griefs  and  discontent- 
ments to  evaporate  (so  it  be  without  too  great  inso- 
lency  or  bravery),  is  a  safe  way.  For  he  that  turn- 
eth  the  humours  back,  and  maketh  the  wound  bleed 
inwards,  endangereth  malign  ulcers  and  pernicious 
imposthumation  s . 

The  part  of  Epimetheus  mought  well  become  Prome- 
theus, in  the  case  of  discontentments ;  for  there  is  not 
a  better  provision  against  them.  Epimetheus,  when 
griefs  and  evils  flew  abroad,  at  last  shut  the  lid,  and 
kept  hope  in  the  bottom  of  the  vessel.  Certainly,  the 
politic  and  artificial  nourishing  and  entertaining  of 
hopes,  and  carrying  men  from  hopes  to  hopes,  is  one 
of  the  best  antidotes  against  the  poison  of  discontent- 
ments. And  it  is  a  certain  sign  of  a  wise  government 
and  proceeding,  when  it  can  hold  men's  hearts  by 
hopes,  when  it  cannot  by  satisfaction  ;  and  when  it  can 
handle  things  in  such  manner,  as  no  evil  shall  appear 
so  peremptory  but  that  it  hath  some  outlet  of  hope : 


130 


OF  SEDITIONS   AND   TROUBLES. 


which  is  the  less  hard  to  do,  because  both  particular 
persons  and  factions  are  apt  enough  to  flatter  them- 
selves, or  at  least  to  brave  that  they  believe  not.^ 

Also  the  foresight  and  prevention,  that  there  be  no 
likely  or  fit  head  whereunto  discontented  persons  may 
resort,  and  under  whom  they  may  join,  is  a  known,  but 
an  excellent  point  of  caution.  I  understand  a  fit  head 
to  be  one  that  hath  greatness  and  reputation  ;  that 
hath  confidence  with  the  discontented  party,  and  upon 
whom  they  turn  their  eyes  ;  and  that  is  thought  dis- 
contented in  his  own  particular  :  which  kind  of  persons 
are  either  to  be  won  and  reconciled  to  the  state,  and 
that  in  a  fast  and  true  manner ;  or  to  be  fronted  with 
some  other  of  the  same  party,  that  may  oppose  them, 
and  so  divide  the  reputation.  Generally,  the  dividing 
and  hreakino;  of  all  factions  and  combinations  that  are 
adverse  to  the  state,  and  setting  them  at  distance,  or  at 
least  distrust,  amongst  themselves,  is  not  one  of  the 
worst  remedies.  For  it  is  a  desperate  case,  if  those 
that  hold  with  the  proceeding  of  the  state  be  full  of 
discord  and  faction,  and  those  that  are  against  it  be 
entire  and  united. 

I  have  noted  that  some  witty  and  sharp  speeches 
which  have  fallen  fi-om  princes  have  given  fire  to  sedi- 
tions. Caesar  did  himself  infinite  hurt  in  that  speech, 
Sylla  neseivit  literas,  non  potuit  dictare :  [Sylla  was  no 
scholar,  he  could  not  dictate :]  for  it  did  utterly  cut  off 
that  hope  which  men  had  entertained,  that  he  would  at 
one  time  or  other  give  over  his  dictatorship.  Galba 
undid  himself  by  that  speech,  legi  a  se  militem,  non 
emi ;  [that  he  did  not  buy  his  soldiers,  but  levied 
them :]  for  it  put  the  soldiers  out  of  hope  of  the  dona- 

1  aut  saltem  ostentare^  in  gloriam  suam,  quod  non  omnino  credunt. 


OF  ATHEISM.  131 

tive.  Probus  likewise,  by  that  speech,  si  vtxero,  non 
opus  erit  amplius  Romano  imperio  militihus  ;  [if  I  Hve, 
the  Roman  empire  shall  have  no  more  need  of  sol- 
diers :]  a  speech  of  great  despair  for  the  soldiers.  And 
many  the  like.  Surely  princes  had  need,  in  tender 
matters  and  ticklish  times,  to  beware  what  they  say; 
especially  in  these  short  speeches,  which  fly  abroad  like 
darts,  and  are  thought  to  be  shot  out  of  their  secret 
intentions.  For  as  for  large  discourses,  they  are  flat 
things,  and  not  so  much  noted. 

Lastly,  let  princes,  against  all  events,  not  be  without 
some  great  person,  one  or  rather  more,  of  military  val- 
our, near  unto  them,  for  the  repressing  of  seditions  in 
their  beginnings.  For  without  that,  there  useth  to  be 
more  trepidation  in  court  upon  the  first  breaking  out 
of  troubles  than  were  fit.  And  the  state  runneth  the 
danger  of  that  which  Tacitus  saith  ;  Atque  is  habitus 
animorum  fuit^  ut  pessimum  faeinus  auderent  pauci^ 
plures  vellent,  omnes  paterentur :  [A  few  were  in  a 
humour  to  attempt  mischief,  more  to  desire,  all  to  allow 
it.]  But  let  such  military  persons  be  assured,  and  well 
reputed  of,  rather  than  factious  and  popular  ;  holding 
also  good  correspondence  with  the  other  great  men  in 
the  state ;  or  else  the  remedy  is  worse  than  the  disease. 


XVI.    Of  Atheism. 

I  HAD  rather  believe  all  the  fables  in  the  Legend, 
and  the  Talmud,  and  the  Alcoran,^  than  that  this  uni- 
versal fi-ame  is  without  a  mind.     And  therefore  God 

1  In  the  edition  of  1612,  it  stood,  "  all  the  fables  in  the  Legend  and  the 
Alcoran."  The  Italian  translation  omits  the  Legend,  and  has  only  "tutte 
le  favole  dell'  Alcorano." 


132 


OF   ATHEISM. 


never  wrought  miracle  to  convince  atheism,  because 
his  ordinary  works  convince  it.  It  is  true,  that  a  little 
philosophy  inclineth  man's  mind  to  atheism  ;  but  depth 
in  philosophy  bringeth  men's  minds  about  to  religion. 
For  while  the  mind  of  man  looketh  upon  second 
causes  scattered,  it  may  sometimes  rest  in  them,  and  go 
no  further ;  but  when  it  beholdeth  the  chain  of  them, 
confederate  and  linked  together,  it  must  needs  fly  to 
Providence  and  Deity.  Nay,  even  that  school  which 
is  most  accused  of  atheism  doth  most  demonstrate  re- 
ligion ;  that  is,  the  school  of  Leucippus  and  Democri- 
tus  and  Epicurus.  For  it  is  a  thousand  times  more 
credible,  that  four  mutable  elements,  and  one  immu- 
table fifth  essence,  duly  and  eternally  placed,  need  no 
God,  than  that  an  army  of  infinite  small  portions  or 
seeds  unplaced,  should  have  produced  this  order  and 
beauty  without  a  divine  marshal.  The  scripture  saith, 
The  fool  hath  said  in  his  hearty  there  is  no  God ;  it  is 
not  said.  The  fool  hath  thought  in  his  heart ;  so  as  he 
rather  saith  it  by  rote  to  himself,  as  that  he  would 
have,  than  that  he  can  thoroughly  believe  it,  or  be  per- 
suaded of  it.  For  none  deny  there  is  a  God,  but  those 
for  whom  it  maketh  that  there  were  no  God.  It  ap- 
peareth  in  nothing  more,  that  atheism  is  rather  in  the 
lip  than  in  the  heart  of  man,  than  by  this  ;  that  athe- 
ists will  ever  be  talking  of  that  their  opinion,  as  if  they 
fainted  in  it  within  themselves,  and  would  be  glad  to 
be  strengthened  by  the  consent  of  others.  Nay  more, 
you  shall  have  atheists  strive  to  get  disciples,  as  it  far- 
eth  with  other  sects.  And,  which  is  most  of  all,^  you 
shall  have  of  them  that  will  suffer  for  atheism,  and  not 
recant;    whereas   if  they  did   truly  think   that   there 

1  gtiod  monstri  simile  est. 


OF  ATHEISM.  133 

were  no  such  thing  as  God,  why  should  they  trouble 
themselves  ?  Epicurus  is  charged  that  he  did  but  dis- 
semble for  his  credit's  sake,  when  he  affirmed  there 
were  blessed  natures,  but  such  as  enjoyed  themselves 
without  having  respect  to  the  government  of  the  world. 
Wherein  they  say  he  did  temporize  ;  though  in  secret 
he  thought  there  was  no  God.  But  certainly  he  is 
traduced  ;  for  his  words  are  noble  and  divine :  Non 
Deos  vulgi  negare  profanum  ;  sed  vulgi  opiniones  Diis 
applicareprofanum :  [There  is  no  profanity  in  refusing 
to  believe  in  the  Gods  of  the  vulgar :  the  profanity  is 
in  believing  of  the  Gods  what  the  vulgar  believe  of 
them.]  Plato  could  have  said  no  more.  And  al- 
though he  had  the  confidence  to  deny  the  administra- 
tion, he  had  not  the  power  to  deny  the  nature.  The 
Indians  of  the  west  have  names  for  their  particular 
gods,  though  they  have  no  name  for  God :  as  if  the 
heathens  should  have  had  the  names  Jupiter,  Apollo, 
Mars,  &c.  but  not  the  word  Deus  ;  which  shews  that 
even  those  barbarous  people  have  the  notion,  though 
they  have  not  the  latitude  and  extent  of  it.  So  that 
against  atheists  the  very  savages  take  part  with  the 
very  subtlest  philosophers.  The  contemplative  atheist 
is  rare  :  a  Diagoras,  a  Bion,  a  Lucian  perhaps,  and 
some  others ;  and  yet  they  seem  to  be  more  than  they 
are ;  for  that  all  that  impugn  a  received  religion  or  su- 
perstition are  by  the  adverse  part  branded  with  the 
name  of  atheists.  But  the  great  atheists  indeed  are 
hypocrites  ;  which  are  ever  handling  holy  things,  but 
without  feeling  ;  so  as  they  must  needs  be  cauterized  in 
the  end.  The  causes  of  atheism  are  ;  divisions  in  re- 
ligion, if  they  be  many  ;  for  any  one  main  division 
addeth  zeal  to  both    sides  ;  but  many  divisions  intro- 


134 


OF  ATHEISM. 


duce  atheism.  Another  is,  scandal  of  priests ;  when 
it  is  come  to  that  which  St.  Bernard  saith,  Non  est  jam 
dicere^  ut  populus  sic  sacerdos  ;  quia  nee  sic  populus  ut 
sacerdos :  [One  cannot  now  say,  the  priest  is  as  the 
people,  for  the  truth  is  that  the  people  are  not  so  bad 
as  the  priest.]  A  third  is,  custom  of  profane  scoffing 
in  holy  matters ;  which  doth  by  little  and  Httle  deface 
the  reverence  of  religion.  And  lastly,  learned  times, 
specially  with  peace  and  prosperity;  for  troubles  and 
adversities  do  more  bow  men's  minds  to  relio-ion. 
They  that  deny  a  God  destroy  man's  nobility  ;  for  cer- 
tainly man  is  of  kin  to  the  beasts  by  his  body  ;  and,  if 
he  be  not  of  kin  to  God  by  his  spirit,  he  is  a  base  and 
ignoble  creature.  It  destroys  likewise  magnanimity, 
and  the  raising  of  human  nature  ;  for  take  an  example 
of  a  dog,  and  mark  what  a  generosity  and  courage  he 
will  put  on  when  he  finds  himself  maintained  by  a 
man  ;  who  to  him  is  instead  of  a  God,  or  melior  nor- 
tura;  which  courage  is  manifestly  such  as  that  crea- 
ture, without  that  confidence  of  a  better  nature  than 
his  own,  could  never  attain.  So  man,  when  he  rest- 
eth  and  assure th  himself  upon  divine  protection  and 
favour,  gathereth  a  force  and  faith  which  human  nature 
in  itself  could  not  obtain.  Therefore,  as  atheism  is  in 
all  respects  hateful,  so  in  this,  that  it  depriveth  human 
nature  of  the  means  to  exalt  itself  above  human  frailty. 
As  it  is  in  particular  persons,  so  it  is  in  nations.  Never 
was  there  such  a  state  for  magnanimity  as  Rome.  Of 
this  state  hear  what  Cicero  saith  :  Quam  volumus  licet, 
patres  conscripti,  nos  amemus,  tamen  nee  numero  Hispa- 
nos,  nee  robore  Gallos,  nee  ealliditate  Poenos,  nee  artibus 
Grcecos,  nee  denique  Tioe  ipso  Tiujus  gentis  et  terrce  domes- 
tieo  nativoque  sensu  Italos  ipsos  et  Latinos  ;  sed  pietate, 


OF  SUPERSTITION.  135 

ae  religione,  atque  hac  una  sapientia^  quod  Beorum  im- 
mortalium  numine  omnia  regi  guhernarique  perspeximus, 
omnes  gentes  nationesque  superavimus  :  [Pride  ourselves 
as  we  may  upon  our  country,  yet  are  we  not  in  num- 
ber superior  to  the  Spaniards,  nor  in  strength  to  the 
Gauls,  nor  in  cunning  to  the  Carthaginians,  nor  to  the 
Greeks  in  arts,  nor  to  the  Italians  and  Latins  them- 
selves in  the  homely  and  native  sense  which  belono-s  to 
this  nation  and  land ;  it  is  in  piety  only  and  religion, 
and  the  wisdom  of  regarding  the  providence  of  the  Im- 
mortal Gods  as  that  which  rules  and  governs  all  things, 
that  we  have  surpassed  all  nations  and  peoples.] 


XVII.    Or  Superstition.^ 

It  were  better  to  have  no  opinion  of  God  at  all, 
than  such  an  opinion  as  is  unworthy'^  of  him.  For  the 
one  is  unbelief,  the  other  is  contumely :  and  certainly 
superstition  is  the  reproach  of  the  Deity.  Plutarch 
saitli  well  to  that  purpose  :  Surely  (saith  he)  /  had 
rather  a  great  deal  men  should  say  there  was  no  such 
man  at  all  as  Plutarch^  than  that  they  should  say  that 
there  was  one  Plutarch  that  would  eat  his  children  as 
soon  as  they  were  horn  ;  as  the  poets  speak  of  Saturn. 
And  as  the  contumely  is  greater  towards  God,  so  the 
danger  is  greater  towards  men.  Atheism  leaves  a  man 
to  sense,  to  philosophy,  to  natural  piety,  to  laws,  to 
reputation  ;  ^  all  which  may  be  guides  to  an  outward 
moral  virtue,   though  religion  were   not ;   but  super- 

1  This  Essay  is  omitted  in  the  Italian  translation. 
'■i  contumeliosam  et  Deo  indignnm. 

8  Atheismus  non  prorsus  convelUt  dictamina  census,  non philosqphiam,  aff'ecttis 
naturales,  leges,  borne  famoe  desiderium. 


136 


OF  SUPERSTITION. 


stition  dismounts   all  these,  and  erecteth  an  absolute 
monarchy  in  the  minds  of  men.      Therefore  atheism 


did  never  perturb  states  ; 
themselves,  as  looking  no 
times  inclined  to  atheism 
Cagsar)  were  civil  ^  times. 


for  it  makes  men  wary  of 
further :  ^  and  we  see  the 
(as  the  time  of  Augustus 
But  superstition  hath  beeji 


the  confusion  of  many  states,  and  bringeth  in  a  new 
primum  mobile,  that  ravisheth  all  the  spheres  of  gov- 
ernment. The  master  of  superstition  is  the  people ; 
and  in  all  superstition  wise  men  follow  fools  ;  and  ar- 
guments are  fitted  to  practice,  in  a  reversed  order.^ 
It  was  gravely  said  by  some  of  the  prelates  in  the 
council  of  Trent,  where  the  doctrine  of  the  schoolmen 
bare  great  sway,  that  the  schoolfnen  were  like  astrono- 
mers, which  did  feign  eccentrics  and  epicycles,  and  such 
engiiies  of  orbs,  to  save  the  phoinomena  ;  though  they  knew 
there  were  no  such  things  ;  and  in  like  manner,  that  the 
schoolmen  had  framed  a  number  of  subtle  and  intri- 
cate axioms  and  theorems,  to  save  the  practice  of  the 
church.  The  causes  of  superstition  are,  pleasing  and 
sensual  rites  and  ceremonies  ;  excess  of  outward  and 
Pharisaical  holiness  ;  over-great  reverence  of  traditions, 
which  cannot  but  load  the  church  ;  the  stratagems  of 
prelates  for  their  own  ambition  and  lucre  ;  the  favour- 
ing too  much  of  good  intentions,  which  openeth  the 
gate  to  conceits  and  novelties  ;  *  the  taking  an  aim  at 
divine  matters  by  human,  which  cannot  but  breed  mix- 
ture of  imaginations :  ^    and,  lastly,  barbarous  times, 

1  cautos et  securitati  siub  consulentes. 

2  tranquilla. 

3  That  is,  reason  is  governed  by  practice,  instead  of  practice  by  reason. 
Argumenta  practicw  succumbunt,  (yrdine  perverso. 

4  novitatibus  et  ethelothreskiis. 

5  ExempJorum   impor-tuna   et   inepta  petitio   ah   humanis,  qtwe  in  divina 


OF  TRAVEL.  137 

especially  joined  with  calamities  and  disasters.  Super- 
stition, without  a  veil,  is  a  deformed  thing  ;  for  as  it 
addeth  deformity  to  an  ape  to  be  so  like  a  man,  so  the 
similitude  of  superstition  to  religion  makes  it  the  more 
defomied.  And  as  wholesome  meat  corrupteth  to  little 
worms,  so  good  forms  and  orders  corrupt  into  a  number 
of  petty  observances.  There  is  a  superstition  in  avoid- 
ing superstition,  when  men  think  to  do  best  if  they  go 
furthest  from  the  superstition  formerly  received  ;  there- 
fore care  would  be  had^  that  (as  it  fareth  in  ill  purg- 
ings)  the  good  be  not  taken  away  with  the  bad ;  which 
commonly  is  done  when  the  people  is  the  reformer. 


XVIII.    Of  Travel. 

Travel,  in  the  younger  sort,  is  a  part  of  education ; 
in  the  elder,  a  part  of  experience.  He  that  travelleth 
into  a  country  before  he  hath  some  entrance  into  the 
language,  goeth  to  school,  and  not  to  travel.  That 
young  men  travel  under  some  tutor,  or  grave  servant,^ 
I  allow  well ;  so  that  he  be  such  a  one  that  hath  the 
language,  and  hath  been  in  the  country  before ;  where- 
by he  may  be  able  to  tell  them  what  things  are  worthy 
to  be  seen  in  the  country  where  they  go  ;  what  ac- 
quaintances they  are  to  seek  ;  what  exercises  or  disci- 
pline the  place  yieldeth.  For  else  young  men  shall  go 
hooded,  and  look  abroad  little.  It  is  a  strange  thing, 
that  in  sea  voyages,  where  there  is  nothing  to  be  seen 
but  sky  and  sea,  men  should  make  diaries ;  but  in  land- 

transferantur^   quce  necessario  parit  fantasiarum  male  cohcerentium  mix- 
turam. 

1  curce  esse  debet  in  Religione  reformandd. 

2  servo  aliquo  experto. 


138  OF  TRAVEL. 

travel,  wherein  so  much  is  to  be  observed,  for  the  most 
part  they  omit  it ;  as  if  chance  were  fitter  to  be  reg- 
istered than  observation.  Let  diaries  therefore  be 
brought  in  use.  The  things  to  be  seen  and  observed 
are,  the  courts  of  princes,  specially  when  they  give 
audience  to  ambassadors ;  the  courts  of  justice,  while 
they  sit  and  hear  causes  ;  and  so  of  consistories  ec- 
clesiastic ;  the  churches  and  monasteries,  with  the 
monuments  which  are  therein  extant ;  the  walls  and 
fortifications  of  cities  and  towns,  and  so  the  havens  and 
harbours  ;  antiquities  and  ruins ;  libraries ;  colleges, 
disputations,  and  lectures,  where  any  are ;  shipping 
and  navies  ;  houses  and  gardens  of  state  and  pleasure, 
near  great  cities  ;  armories  ;  arsenals  ;  magazines  ;  ex- 
changes ;  burses ;  warehouses  ;  exercises  of  horseman- 
ship, fencing,  training  of  soldiers,  and  the  like ;  come- 
dies, such  whereunto  the  better  sort  of  persons  do 
resort ;  treasuries  of  jewels  and  robes  ;  cabinets  and 
rarities  ;  and,  to  conclude,  whatsoever  is  memorable  in 
the  places  where  they  go.  After  all  which  the  tutors 
or  servants  ought  to  make  diligent  inquiry.  As  for  tri- 
umphs, masks,  feasts,  weddings,  funerals,  capital  execu- 
tions, and  such  shows,  men  need  not  to  be  put  in  mind 
of  them  ;  yet  are  they  not  to  be  neglected.  If  you  will 
have  a  young  man  to  put  his  travel  into  a  little  room, 
and  in  short  time  to  gather  much,  this  you  must  do. 
First  as  was  said,  he  must  have  some  entrance  into  the 
language  before  he  goeth.  Then  he  must  have  such  a 
servant  or  tutor  as  knoweth  the  country,  as  was  hke- 
wise  said.  Let  him  carry  with  him  also  some  card 
or  book  describing  the  country  where  he  travelleth ; 
which  will  be  a  good  key  to  his  inquiry.  Let  him  keep 
also  a  diary.     Let  him  not  stay  long  in  one  city  or 


OF  TKAVEL.  139 

town ;  more  or  less  as  the  place  deserveth,  but  not 
long  ;  nay,  when  he  stayeth  in  one  city  or  town,  let 
him  change  his  lodging  from  one  end  and  part  of  the 
town  to  another ;  which  is  a  great. adamant  of  acquaint- 
ance.^ Let  him  sequester  himself  from  the  company 
of  his  countrymen,  and  diet  in  such  places  where  there 
is  good  company  of  the  nation  where  he  travelleth. 
Let  him  upon  his  removes  from  one  place  to  another, 
procure  recommendation  to  some  person  of  quality  re- 
siding in  the  place  whither  he  removeth ;  that  he  may 
use  his  favour  in  those  thino;s  he  desireth  to  see  or 
know.  Thus  he  may  abridge  his  travel  with  much 
profit.  As  for  the  acquaintance  which  is  to  be  sought 
in  travel ;  that  which  is  most  of  all  profitable,  is  ac- 
quaintance with  the  secretaries  and  employed  men  of 
ambassadors  :  for  so  in  travelling  in  one  country  he 
shall  suck  the  experience  of  many.  Let  him  also  see 
and  visit  eminent  persons  in  all  kinds,  which  are  of 
great  name  abroad  ;  that  he  may  be  able  to  tell  how 
the  life  agreeth  with  the  fame.^  For  quarrels,  they 
are  with  care  and  discretion  to  be  avoided.  They  are 
commonly  for  mistresses,  healths,  place,  and  words. 
And  let  a  man  beware  how  he  keepeth  company  with 
choleric  and  quarrelsome  persons ;  for  they  will  engage 
him  into  their  own  quarrels.  When  a  traveller  return- 
eth  home,  let  him  not  leave  the  countries  where  he 
hath  travelled  altogether  behind  him  ;  but  maintain  a 
correspondence  by  letters  with  those  of  his  acquaint- 
ance which  are  of  most  worth.  And  let  his  travel 
appear  rather  in  his  discourse  than  in  his  apparel  or 


1  nam  et  hoc  certe  magnes  est  attrahevdi  familiaHtates  et  consuetudines . 
mm  complurium. 

2  qyomodo  os,  vultus,  et  corporis  Kneamenta  et  motus,  respondeanifam/x. 


140  OF  EMPIRE. 

gesture  ;  and  in  his  discourse  let  him  be  rather  advised 
in  his  answers,  than  forward  to  tell  stories ;  and  let  it 
appear  that  he  doth  not  change  his  country  manners 
for  those  of  foreign  parts  ;  but  only  prick  in  some  flow- 
ers of  that  he  hath  learned  abroad  into  the  customs  of 
his  own  country. 


XIX.    Of  Empire. 

It  is  a  miserable  state  of  mind  to  have  few  things  to 
desire,  and  many  things  to  fear  ;  and  yet  that  com- 
monly is  the  case  of  kings  ;  who,  being  at  the  highest, 
want  matter  of  desire,  which  makes  their  minds  more 
languishing  ;  and  have  many  representations  of  perils 
and  shadows,  which  makes  their  minds  the  less  clear. 
And  this  is  one  reason  also  of  that  effect  which  the 
Scripture  speaketh  of.  That  the  hinges  heart  is  inscru- 
table. -  For  multitude  of  jealousies,  and  lack  of  some 
predominant  desire  that  should  marshal  and  put  in 
order  all  the  rest,  maketh  any  man's  heart  hard  to  find 
or  sound.  Hence  it  comes  likewise,  that  princes  many 
times  make  themselves  desires,  and  set  their  hearts 
upon  toys  ;  sometimes  upon  a  building  ;  sometimes 
upon  erecting  of  an  order  ;  sometimes  upon  the  ad- 
vancing of  a  person  ;  sometimes  upon  obtaining  excel- 
lency in  some  art  or  feat  of  the  hand ;  as  Nero  for 
playing  on  the  harp,  Domitian  for  certainty  of  the 
hand  with  the  arrow,  Commodus  for  playing  at  fence, 
Caracalla  for  driving  chariots,  and  the  like.  This 
seemeth  incredible  unto  those  that  know  not  the  princi- 
ple that  the  mind  of  inan  is  more  cheered  and  refreshed 


OF  EMPIRE.  141 

hy  profiting  ^  in  small  things^  than  hy  standing  at  a  stay 
in  great.  We  see  also  that  kings  that  have  been  for- 
tunate conquerors  in  their  first  years,  it  being  not  pos- 
sible for  them  to  go  forward  infinitely,  but  that  they 
must  have  some  check  or  arrest  in  their  fortunes,  turn 
in  their  latter  years  to  be  superstitious  and  melancholy ; 
as  did  Alexander  the  Great ;  Dioclesian  ;  and  in  our 
memory,  Charles  the  Fifth  ;  and  others  :  for  he  that  is 
used  to  go  forward,  and  findeth  a  stop,  falleth  out  of 
his  own  favour,  and  is  not  the  thing  he  was. 

To  speak  now  of  the  true  temper  of  empire ;  it  is  a 
thing  rare  and  hard  to  keep ;  for  both  temper  and  dis- 
temper consist  of  contraries.  But  it  is  one  thing  to 
mingle  contraries,  another  to  interchange  them.  The 
answer  of  ApoUonius  to  Vespasian  is  full  of  excellent 
instruction.  Vespasian  asked  him,  what  was  Nero's 
overthrow  ?  He  answered,  Nero  could  touch  and  tune 
the  harp  well ;  hut  in  government  sometimes  he  used  to 
wind  the  pins  too  high.,  sometimes  to  let  them  down  too 
low.  And  certain  it  is  that  nothing  destroyeth  author- 
ity so  much  as  the  unequal  ^  and  untimely  interchange 
of  power  pressed  too  far,  and  relaxed  too  much. 

This  is  true,  that  the  wisdom  of  all  these  latter  times 
in  princes'  affairs  is  rather  fine  deliveries  and  shiftings 
of  dangers  and  mischiefs  when  they  are  near,  than 
solid  and  grounded  courses  to  keep  them  aloof.  But 
this  is  but  to  try  masteries  with  fortune.  And  let  men 
beware  how  they  neglect  and  suffer  matter  of  trouble 
to  be  prepared ;  for  no  man  can  forbid  the  spark,  nor 
tell  whence  it  may  come.  The  difficulties  in  princes' 
business  are  many  and  great ;  but  the  greatest  difficulty 

"^  progrediencb. 

2  incequalem  et  quad  svbsultoriam. 


142 


OF  EMPIRE. 


mind.     For  it  is  common  with 
*   to  will  contradictories,  Sunt 


is  often  in  their  own 
princes  (saith  Tacitus) 
pleriimque  regum  voluntates  vehementes,  et  inter  se  corir 
trance :  [Their  desires  are  commonly  vehement  and  in- 
compatible one  with  another.]  For  it  is  the  solecism 
of  power,  to  think  to  command  the  end,  and  yet  not  to 
endure  the  mean. 

Kings  have  to  deal  with  their  neighbours,  their 
wives,  their  children,  their  prelates  or  clergy,  their 
nobles,  their  second-nobles  or  gentlemen,  their  mer- 
chants, their  commons,  and  their  men  of  war;  and 
from  all  these  arise  dangers,  if  care  and  circumspection 
be  not  used. 

First  for  their  neighbours ;  there  can  no  general  rule 
be  given  (the  occasions  are  so  variable,)  save  one, 
which  ever  holdeth  ;  which  is,  that  princes  do  keep 
due  sentinel,  that  none  of  their  neighbours  do  over- 
grow so  (by  increase  of  territory,  by  embracing  of 
trade,2  by  approaches,  or  the  like),  as  they  become 
more  able  to  annoy  them  than  they  were.  And  this 
is  generally  the  work  of  standing  counsels  to  foresee 
and  to  hinder  it.  During  that  triumvirate  of  kings, 
King  Henry  the  Eighth  of  England,  Francis  the  First 
King  of  France,  and  Charles  the  Fifth  Emperor,  there 
was  such  a  watch  kept,  that  none  of  the  three  could 
win  a  palm  of  ground,  but  the  other  two  would 
straightways  balance  it,  either  by  confederation,  or,  if 
need  were,  by  a  war  ;  and  would  not  in  any  wise  take 
up  peace  at  interest.  And  the  like  was  done  by  that 
league  (which  Guicciardine  saith  was  the  security  of 
Italy)    made   between   Ferdinando    King   of   Naples, 


1  Not  Tacitus,  but  Sallust.    Bell.  Jug.  113. 

2  commercium  ad  se  attrahendo. 


OF  EMPIRE.  143 

Lorenzius  Medices,  and  Ludovicus  Sforza,  potentates, 
the  one  of  Florence,  the  other  of  Milan.  Neither  is 
the  opinion  of  some  of  the  schoolmen  to  be  received, 
that  a  war  cannot  justly  he  made  hut  upon  a  precedent 
injury  or  provocation.  For  there  is  no  question  but  a 
just  fear  of  an  imminent  danger,  though  there  be  no 
blow  given,  is  a  lawful  cause  of  a  war. 

For  their  wives ;  there  are  cruel  examples  of  them. 
Livia  is  infamed  for  the  poisoning  of  her  husband ; 
Roxalana,  Solyman's  wife,  was  the  destruction  of  that 
renowned  prince  Sultan  Mustapha,  and  otherwise 
troubled  his  house  and  succession  ;  Edward  the  Second 
of  England  his  queen  had  the  principal  hand  in  the 
deposing  and  murther  of  her  husband.  This  kind  of 
danger  is  then  to  be  feared  chiefly,  when  the  wives 
have  plots  for  the  raising  of  their  own  children  ;  or 
else  that  they  be  advoutresses. 

For  their  children  ;  the  tragedies  likewise  of  dangers 
from  them  have  been  many.  And  generally,  the  en- 
tering of  fathers  into  suspicion  of  their  children  hath 
been  ever  unfortunate.  The  destruction  of  Mustapha 
(that  we  named  before)  was  so  fatal  to  Solyman's  line, 
as  the  succession  of  the  Turks  from  Solyman  until  this 
day  is  suspected  to  be  untrue,  and  of  strange  blood  ; 
for  that  Selymus  the  Second  was  thought  to  be  suppo- 
sitious. The  destruction  of  Crispus,  a  young  prince 
of  rare  towardness,  by  Constantinus  the  Great,  his 
father,  was  in  like  manner  fatal  to  his  house  ;  for  both 
Constantinus  and  Constance,  his  sons,  died  violent 
deaths  ;  and  Constantius,  his  other  son,  did  little  bet- 
ter ;  who  died  indeed  of  sickness,  but  after  that  Juli- 
anus  had  taken  arms  against  him.  The  destruction 
of  Demetrius,  son  to  Philip  the  Second  of  Macedon, 


144  OF  EMPIRE. 

turned  upon  the  father,  who  died  of  repentance.  And 
many  like  examples  there  are  ;  but  few  or  none  where 
the  fathers  had  good  by  such  distrust ;  except  it  were 
where  the  sons  were  up  in  open  arms  against  them  ;  as 
was  Selymus  the  First  against  Bajazet ;  and  the  three 
sons  of  Henry  the  Second,  King  of  England. 

For  their  prelates  ;  when  they  are  proud  and  great, 
there  is  also  danger  from  them  ;  as  it  was  in  the  times 
of  Anselmus  and  Thomas  Becket,  Archbishops  of  Can- 
terbury ;  who  with  their  crosiers  did  almost  try  it  with 
the  king's  sword  ;  and  yet  they  had  to  deal  with  stout 
and  haughty  kings  ;  William  Rufus,  Henry  the  First, 
and  Henry  the  Second.  The  danger  is  not  from  that 
state,  but  where  it  hath  a  dependance  of  foreign  author- 
ity ;  or  where  the  churchmen  come  in  and  are  elected, 
not  by  the  collation  of  the  king,  or  particular  patrons, 
but  by  the  people.^ 

For  their  nobles  ;  to  keep  them  at  a  distance,  it  is 
not  amiss  ;  ^  but  to  depress  them,  may  make  a  king 
more  absolute,  but  less  safe ;  and  less  able  to  perform 
any  thing  that  he  desires.  I  have  noted  it  in  my  His- 
tory of  King  Henry  the  Seventh  of  England,  who  de- 
pressed his  nobility ;  whereupon  it  came  to  pass  that 
his  times  were  full  of  difficulties  and  troubles  ;  for  the 
nobility,  though  they  continued  loyal  unto  him,  yet  did 
they  not  co-operate  with  him  in  his  business.  So  that 
in  effect  he  was  fain  to  do  all  things  himself. 

For  their  second-nobles  ;  there  is  not  much  danger 

1  At  peiiculum  huj'usmodi  a  Prcelatis  rum  est  magnopere  pertimescendum, 
nisi  ubi  Clerus  ah  auctoritate  aut  jurisdictione  principatus  externi  pendet ;  aut 
etiam  vbi  Ecdesiastici  eliguntur  a  populo,  non  autem  a  Rege  velpatronis  Ec- 
clesiarum. 

2  Sunt  itti  certe  cohibendi^  et  tamquam  injusta  distantid  a  solio  regali  conti- 
nendi. 


OF  EMPIRE.  145 

from  them,  being  a  body  dispersed.  They  may  some- 
times discourse  high,  but  that  doth  little  hurt ;  besides, 
they  are  a  counterpoise  to  the  higher  nobihty,  that  they 
grow  not  too  potent ;  ^  and,  lastly,  being  the  most  im- 
mediate in  authority  with  the  common  people,  they  do 
best  temper  popular  commotions. 

For  their  merchants  ;  they  are  vena  porta  ;  ^  and  if 
they  flourish  not,  a  kingdom  may  have  good  limbs,  but 
will  have  empty  veins,  and  nourish  little.  Taxes  and 
imposts  upon  them  do  seldom  good  to  the  king's  reve- 
nue ;  for  that  that  he  wins  in  the  hundred  he  leeseth  in 
the  shire  ;  the  particular  rates  being  increased,  but  the 
total  bulk  of  trading  rather  decreased. 

For  their  commons  ;  there  is  little  danger  from  them, 
except  it  be  where  they  have  great  and  potent  heads  ; 
or  where  you  meddle  with  the  point  of  religion,  or 
their  customs,  or  means  of  life.^ 

1  Quirdmo  fovendi  sunt,  tanquam  qui  potentiam  nobilitatis  superioris  optime 
temperent,  ne  immodice  excrescat. 

2  Upon  this  phrase,  which  recurs  two  or  three  times  in  Bacon  (see  for  in- 
stance the  History  of  Henry  VII.  p.  259. ;  "  being  a  king  that  loved  wealth 
and  treasure,  he  could  not  endure  to  have  trade  sick,  nor  any  obstruction 
to  continue  in  the  gate-vein,  which  disperseth  that  blood,^'')  I  am  indebted  to 
Mr.  Ellis  for  the  following  characteristic  note.  "  The  metaphor,"  he  writes, 
"  is  historically  curious ;  for  no  one  would  have  used  it  since  the  discovery 
of  the  circulation  of  the  blood  and  of  the  lacteals.  But  in  Bacon's  time  it 
was  supposed  that  the  chyle  was  taken  up  by  the  veins  which  converge  to 
the  vena  porta.  The  latter  immediately  divides  into  branches,  and  ulti- 
mately into  four  ramifications,  which  are  distributed  throughout  the  sub- 
stance of  the  liver,  so  that  it  has  been  compared  to  the  trunk  of  a  tree  giv- 
ing off  roots  at  one  extremity  and  branches  at  the  other.  Bacon's  meaning 
therefore  is,  that  commerce  concentrates  the  resources  of  a  country  in  order 
to  their  redistribution.  The  heart,  which  receives  blood  from  all  parts  of 
the  body  and  brings  it  into  contact  with  the  external  air,  and  then  redis- 
tributes it  everywhere,  would  I  think  have  taken  the  place  of  the  vena 
porta,  after  Harvey's  discovery  had  become  known ;  especially  as  the  latter 
is  a  mere  conduit,  and  not  a  source  of  motion." 

8  vel  in  consuetudinibus  antiquis,  vel  in  gravaminibus  tributorum,  vel  in  aliis 
quae  victum  eorum  decurtant. 

VOL.   XII.  10 


146  OF  COUNSEL. 

For  their  men  of  war  ;  it  is  a  dangerous  state  where 
they  live  and  remain  in  a  body,^  and  are  used  to  dona- 
tives ;  whereof  we  see  examples  in  the  janizaries,  and 
pretorian  bands  of  Rome ;  but  trainings  of  men,  and 
arming  them  ^  in  several  places,  and  under  several 
commanders,  and  without  donatives,  are  things  of 
defence,  and  no  danger. 

Princes  are  like  to  heavenly  bodies,  which  cause 
good  or  evil  times  ;  and  which  have  much  veneration, 
but  no  rest.  All  precepts  concerning  kings  are  in 
effect  comprehended  in  those  two  remembrances  ;  me^ 
mento  quod  es  homo  ;  and  memento  quod  es  Deus^  or  viee 
Dei;  [Remember  that  you  are  a  man  ;  and  remember 
that  you  are  a  God,  or  God's  lieutenant :  ]  the  one 
bridleth  their  power,  and  the  other  their  will. 


XX.    Of  Counsel. 

The  greatest  trust  between  man  and  man  is  the 
trust  of  giving  counsel.  For  in  other  confidences  men 
commit  the  parts  of  life ;  their  lands,  their  goods,  their 
child,^  their  credit,  some  particular  affair ;  but  to  such 
as  they  make  their  counsellors,  they  commit  the  whole: 
by  how  much  the  more  they  are  obliged  to  all  faith 
and  integrit}^  The  wisest  princes  need  not  think  it 
any  diminution  to  their  greatness,  or  derogation  to 
fheir  sufficiency,  to  rely  upon  counsel.*  God  himself 
is  not  without,  but  hath  made  it  one  of  the  great  names 
of  his  blessed  Son  ;   The  Counsellor.    Salomon  hath  pro- 

1  si  in  corpus  wnwm  cogantur,  vel  exercitvs  vel  prmsidiorum. 

2  militum  conscnptio  et  ad  arma  tractanda  instructio. 
«  So  edd.  1612  and  1625.    Ed.  1639  has  children. 

*  si  consilio  virorum  selectorum  utantur. 


OF  COUNSEL.  147 

nounced  that  in  counsel  is  stability.  Things  will  have 
their  first  or  second  agitation  :  if  they  be  not  tossed 
upon  the  arguments  of  counsel,  they  will  be  tossed 
upon  the  waves  of  fortune ;  and  be  full  of  inconstancy, 
doing  and  undoing,  like  the  reeling  of  a  drunken  man. 
Salomon's  son  found  the  force  of  counsel,  as  his  father 
saw  the  necessity  of  it.  For  the  beloved  kingdom  of 
God  was  first  rent  and  broken  by  ill  counsel ;  upon 
which  counsel  there  are  set  for  our  instruction  the  two 
marks  whereby  bad  counsel  is  for  ever  best  discerned  ; 
that  it  was  young  counsel,  for  the  persons ;  and  violent 
counsel,  for  the  matter. 

The  ancient  times  do  set  forth  in  figure  both  the 
incorporation  and  inseparable  conjunction  of  counsel 
with  kings,  and  the  wise  and  politic  use  of  counsel  by 
kings  :  the  one,  in  that  they  say  Jupiter  did  marry 
Metis,  which  signifieth  counsel ;  whereby  they  intend 
that  Sovereignty  is  married  to  Counsel:  the  other  in 
that  which  followeth,  which  was  thus  :  They  say, 
after  Jupiter  was  married  to  Metis,  she  conceived  by 
him  and  was  with  child,  but  Jupiter  suffered  her  not 
to  stay  till  she  brought  forth,  but  eat  her  up ;  whereby 
he  became  himself  with  child,  and  was  delivered  of 
Pallas  armed,  out  of  his  head.  Which  monstrous 
fable  containeth  a  secret  of  empire ;  how  kings  are  to 
make  use  of  their  counsel  of  state.  That  first  they 
ought  to  refer  matters  unto  them,  which  is  the  first 
begetting  or  impregnation ;  but  when  they  are  elabo- 
rate, moulded,  and  shaped  in  the  womb  of  their  coun- 
sel, and  grow  ripe  and  ready  to  be  brought  forth,  that 
then  they  suffer  not  their  counsel  to  go  through  with 
the  resolution  and  direction,  as  if  it  depended  on  them  ; 
but  take  the  matter  back  into  their  own  hands,  and 


148  OF  COUNSEL. 

make  it  appear  to  the  world  that  the  decrees  and  final 
directions  (which,  because  they  come  forth  with  pru- 
dence and  power,  are  resembled  to  Pallas  armed) 
proceeded  from  themselves ;  and  not  only  from  their 
authority,  but  (the  more  to  add  reputation  to  them- 
selves) from  their  head  and  device. 

Let  us  now  speak  of  the  inconveniences  of  counsel, 
and  of  the  remedies.  The  inconveniences  that  have 
been  noted  in  calling  and  using  counsel,  are  three. 
First,  the  revealing  of  affairs,  whereby  they  become 
less  secret.  Secondly,  the  weakening  of  the  authority 
of  princes,  as  if  they  were  less  of  themselves.^  Thirdly, 
the  danger  of  being  unfaithfully  counselled,  and  more 
for  the  good  of  them  that  counsel  than  of  him  that  is 
counselled.  For  which  inconveniences,  the  doctrine 
of  Italy ,2  and  practice  of  France,  in  some  kings'  times, 
hath  introduced  cabinet  counsels  ;  a  remedy  worse  than 
the  disease.^ 

As  to  secrecy ;  princes  are  not  bound  to  communi- 
cate all  matters  with  all  counsellors ;  but  may  extract 
and  select.  Neither  is  it  necessary  that  he  that  con- 
sulteth  what  he  should  do,  should  declare  what  he  will 
do.  But  let  princes  beware  that  the  unsecreting  of 
their  affairs  comes  not  from  themselves.     And  as  for 

1  ac  si  minus  ex  se  penderent. 

2  doctnna  quorundam  ex  Italis.  The  Italian  translation  has  T  nso  d'  Italia 
e  di  Francia. 

8  The  sentence  ends  here  in  both  the  printed  editions.  But  in  the  manu- 
script (of  which  an  account  will  be  given  in  the  Appendix,  and  which 
appears  to  have  been  written  a  little  earlier  than  1612),  the  following  clause 
is  added  "  which  hath  turned  Metis  the  wife  to  Metis  the  mistress ;  that  is 
counsels  of  state,  to  which  princes  are  married,  to  counsels  of  favoured  per- 
sons, recommended  chiefly  by  flattery  and  affection."  Cabinet  Counsels 
therefore  (translated  concilia  interiora  quce  mdgo  vocantur  Cabinetti)  are  not 
to  be  understood  in  the  modern  sense.  What  we  call  the  Cabinet  answers 
exactly  to  what  Bacon  calls  a  Counsel  of  State. 


Kjj  pji  ■■-■-    ajw<iggg5gg>aB»gawggw 


OF  COUNSEL.  149 

cabinet  counsels,  it  may  be  their  motto,  plenus  rimarum 
mm :  [they  are  full  of  leaks :]  one  futile  person  that 
maketh  it  his  glory  to  tell,  will  do  more  hurt  than 
many  that  know  it  their  duty  to  conceal.  It  is  true 
there  be  some  affairs  which  require  extreme  secrecy, 
which  will  hardly  go  beyond  one  or  two  persons  be- 
sides the  king :  neither  are  those  counsels  unpros- 
perous  ;  for,  besides  the  secrecy,  they  commonly  go  on 
constantly  in  one  spirit  of  direction,  without  distraction. 
But  then  it  must  be  a  prudent  king,  such  as  is  able  to 
grind  with  a  hand-mill ;  ^  and  those  inward  counsellors 
had  need  also  be  wise  men,  and  especially  true  and 
trusty  to  the  king's  ends ;  as  it  was  with  King  Henry 
the  Seventh  of  England,  who  in  his  greatest  business 
imparted  himself  to  none,  except  it  were  to  Morton 
and  Fox. 

For  weakening  of  authority ;  the  fable  ^  showeth  the 
remedy.  Nay,  the  majesty  of  kings  is  rather  exalted 
than  diminished  when  they  are  in  the  chair  of  counsel ; 
neither  was  there  ever  prince  bereaved  of  his  depend- 
ances  ^  by  his  counsel ;  except  where  there  hath  been 
either  an  over-greatness  in  one  counsellor  or  an  over- 
strict  combination  in  divers ;  which  are  things  soon 
found  and  holpen. 

For  the  last  inconvenience,  that  men  will  counsel 
with  an  eye  to  themselves ;  certainly,  non  inveniet  fidem 
super  terram  [he  will  not  find  faith  on  the  earth,]  is 
meant  of  the  nature  of  times,  and  not  of  all  particular 
persons.  There  be  that  are  in  nature  faithful,  and  sin- 
cere, and  plain,  and  direct ;  not  crafty  and  involved ;  let 

1  si  rexprudens  sit,  etproprio  marte  validus. 

2  That  is,  the  fable  of  Jupiter  and  Metis. 
8  auctoritate  stid  imminutum. 


150  OF  COUNSEL. 

princes,  above  all,  draw  to  themselves  such  natures. 
Besides,  counsellors  are  not  commonly  so  united,  but 
that  one  counsellor  keepeth  sentinel  over  another ;  so 
that  if  any  do  counsel  out  of  faction  or  private  ends,  it 
commonly  comes  to  the  king's  ear.  But  the  best  rem- 
edy is,  if  princes  know  their  counsellors,  as  well  as 
their  counsellors  know  them  : 

Principis  est  virtus  maxima  nosse  suos. 

And  on  the  other  side,  counsellors  should  not  be  too 
speculative  into  their  sovereign's  person.  The  true 
composition  of  a  counsellor  is  rather  to  be  skilful  in 
their  master's  business,  than  in  his  nature ;  for  then  he 
is  like  to  advise  him,  and  not  feed  his  humour.  It  is 
of  singular  use  to  princes  if  they  take  the  opinions  of 
their  counsel  both  separately  and  together.  For  pri- 
vate opinion  is  more  free  ;  but  opinion  before  others  is 
more  reverent.^  In  private,  men  are  more  bold  in 
their  own  humours ;  and  in  consort,  men  are  more 
obnoxious  to  others'  humours  ;  therefore  it  is  good  to 
take  both ;  and  of  the  inferior  sort  rather  in  private,  to 
preserve  freedom ;  of  the  greater  rather  in  consort, 
to  preserve  respect.^  It  is  in  vain  for  princes  to  take 
counsel  concerning  matters,  if  they  take  no  counsel 
likewise  concerning  persons ;  for  all  matters  are  as  dead 
images ;  and  the  life  of  the  execution  of  aifairs  resteth 
in  the  good  choice  of  persons.  Neither  is  it  enough  to 
consult  concerning  persons  secundum  genera^  as  in  an 
idea,  or  mathematical  description,  what  the  kind  and 
character  of  the  person  should  be  ;  for  the  greatest 
errors  are  committed,  and  the  most  judgment  is  shown, 

1  gramor. 

2  ut  modestius  sententiam  ferant. 


OF  COUNSEL.  151 

in  the  choice  of  individuals.  It  was  truly  said,  op- 
timi  condliarii  mortui :  [the  best  counsellors  are  the 
dead :]  books  will  speak  plain  when  counsellors  blanch. 
Therefore  it  is  good  to  be  conversant  in  them,  specially 
the  books  of  such  as  themselves  have  been  actors  upon 
the  stage. ^ 

The  counsels  at  this  day  in  most  places  are  but 
familiar  meetings,  where  matters  are  rather  talked  on 
than  '  debated.  And  they  run  too  swift  to  the  order  or 
act  of  counsel.  It  were  better  that  in  causes  of  weight, 
the  matter  were  propounded  one  day  and  not  spoken  to 
till  the  next  day  ;  in  node  consilium  :  [night  is  the 
season  for  counsel.]  So  was  it  done  in  the  Commis- 
sion of  Union  between  England  and  Scotland ;  which 
was  a  grave  and  orderly  assembly.  I  commend  set 
days  for  petitions ;  for  both  it  gives  the  suitors  more 
certainty  for  their  attendance,  and  it  frees  the  meetings 
for  matters  of  estate,  that  they  may  hoc  agere.  In 
choice  of  committees  for  ripening  business  for  the 
counsel,  it  is  better  to  choose  indifferent  persons,  than 
to  make  an  indifferency  by  putting  in  those  that  are 
strong  on  both  sides.  I  commend  also  standing  com- 
missions ;  as  for  trade,  for  treasure,  for  war,  for  suits, 
for  some  provinces ;  for  where  there  be  divers  partic- 
ular counsels  and  but  one  counsel  of  estate  (as  it  is  in 
Spain),  they  are,  in  effect,  no  more  than  standing 
commissions  :  save  that  they  have  greater  authority. 
Let  such  as  are  to  inform  counsels  out  of  their  partic- 
ular professions,  (as  lawyers,  seamen,  mintmen,  and 
the  like,)  be  first  heard  before  committees  ;  and  then, 
as  occasion  serves,  before  the  counsel.  And  let  them 
not  come  in  multitudes,  or  in  a  tribunitious  manner ; 

1  qid  et  ipsi  gubernacula  rerum  tractarunt. 


152 


OF  DELAYS. 


for  that  is  to  clamour  counsels,  not  to  inform  them.  A 
long  table  and  a  square  table,  or  seats  about  the  walls, 
seem  things  of  form,  but  are  things  of  substance  ;  for 
at  a  long  table  a  few  at  the  upper  end,  in  effect,  sway 
all  the  business ;  but  in  the  other  form  there  is  more 
use  of  the  counsellors'  opinions  that  sit  lower.  A  king, 
when  he  presides  in  counsel,  let  him  beware  how  he 
opens  his  own  inclination  too  much  in  that  which  he 
propoundeth  ;  for  else  counsellors  will  but  take  the 
wind  of  him,^  and  instead  of  giving  free  counsel,  sing 
him  a  song  of  placebo. 


XXI.    Of  Delays. 

Fortune  is  like  the  market ;  where  many  times,  if 
you  can  stay  a  little,  the  price  will  fall.  And  again,  it 
is  sometimes  like  Sibylla's  offer  ;  which  at  first  offereth 
the  commodity  at  full,  then  consumeth  part  and  part, 
and  still  holdeth  up  the  price.  For  occasion  (as  it  is  in 
the  common  verse)  turneth  a  hold  noddle^  after  she  hath 
presented  her  locks  in  fronts  and  no  hold  taken ;  or  at 
least  turneth  the  handle  of  the  bottle  first  to  be  re- 
ceived, and  after  the  belly,  which  is  hard  to  clasp. 
There  is  surely  no  greater  wisdom  than  well  to  time 
the  beginnings  and  onsets  of  things.^  Dangers  are  no 
more  light,  if  they  once  seem  light ;  and  more  dangers 
have  deceived  men  than  forced  them.  Nay,  it  were 
better  to  meet  some  dangers  half  way,  though  they 
come  nothing  near,  than  to  keep  too  long  a  watch  upon 
their  approaches  ;  for  if  a  man  watch  too  long,  it  is 

1  se  CK?  nutum  ejus  applicabunt. 

2  quam  in  tempestivis  negotiorum  auspiciis  principiisque  eligendis. 


OF  CUNNING.  153 

odds  he  will  fall  asleep.  On  the  other  side,  to  be  de- 
ceived with  too  long  shadows  (as  some  have  been  when 
the  moon  was  low  and  shone  on  their  enemies'  back), 
and  so  to  shoot  off  before  the  time ;  or  to  teach  dangers 
to  come  on,  by  over  early  buckling  towards  them  ;  ^  is 
another  extreme.  The  ripeness  or  unripeness  of  the 
occasion  (as  we  said)  must  ever  be  well  weighed  ;  and 
generally  it  is  good  to  commit  the  beginnings  of  all 
great  actions  to  Argos  with  his  hundred  eyes,  and 
the  ends  to  Briareus  with  his  hundred  hands ;  first  to 
watch,  and  then  to  speed.  For  the  helmet  of  Pluto, 
which  maketh  the  politic  man  go  invisible,  is  secrecy  in 
the  counsel  and  celerity  in  the  execution.  For  when 
things  are  once  come  to  the  execution,  there  is  no  se- 
crecy comparable  to  celerity ;  like  the  motion  of  a  bullet 
in  the  air,  which  flieth  so  swift  as  it  outruns  the  eye. 


XXII.    Of  Cunning. 

We  take  Cunning  for  a  sinister  or  crooked  wisdom. 
And  certainly  there  is  a  great  difference  between  a 
cunning  man  and  a  wise  man  ;  not  only  in  point  of 
honesty,  but  in  point  of  ability.  There  be  that  can 
pack  the  cards,  and  yet  cannot  play  well ;  so  there  are 
some  that  are  good  in  canvasses  and  factions,  that  are 
otherwise  weak  men.  Again,  it  is  one  thing  to  under- 
stand persons,  and  another  thing  to  understand  mat- 
ters ;  for  many  are  perfect  in  men's  humours,  that  are 
not  greatly  capable  of  the  real  part  of  business ;  which 
is  the  constitution  ^  of  one  that  hath  studied  men  more 

"^  pericula  prcemature  obviando  accersere. 
2  constiiutk)  ipsissima. 


154  OF  CUNNING. 

than  books.  Such  men  are  fitter  for  practice  than  for 
counsel ;  and  they  are  good  but  in  their  own  alley : 
turn  them  to  new  men,  and  they  have  lost  their  aim  ; 
so  as  the  old  rule  to  know  a  fool, from  a  wise  man, 
Mitte  ambos  nudos  ad  igiiotos^  et  videbis,  [Send  them 
both  naked  to  those  they  know  not,]  doth  scarce  hold 
for  them.  And  because  these  cunning  men  are  like 
haberdashers  of  small  wares,  it  is  not  amiss  to  set  forth 
their  shop. 

It  is  a  point  of  cunning,  to  wait  upon  him  with  whom 
you  speak,  with  your  eye  ;  ^  as  the  Jesuits  give  it  in 
precept  :  for  there  be  many  wise  men  that  have  secret 
hearts  and  transparent  countenances.  Yet  this  would 
be  done  with  a  demure  abasing  of  your  eye  sometimes, 
as  the  Jesuits  also  do  use. 

Another  is,  that  when  you  have  anything  to  obtain 
of  present  despatch,  you  entertain  and  amuse  the  party 
with  whom  you  deal  with  some  other  discourse  ;  that 
he  be  not  too  much  awake  to  make  objections.  I  knew 
a  counsellor  and  secretary,  that  never  came  to  Queen 
Elizabeth  of  England  with  bills  to  sign,  but  he  would 
always  first  put  her  into  some  discourse  of  estate,  that 
she  mought  the  less  mind  the  bills. 

The  like  surprise  may  be  made  by  moving  things 
when  the  party  is  in  haste,  and  cannot  stay  to  consider 
advisedly  of  that  is  moved. 

If  a  man  would  cross  a  business  that  he  doubts  some 
other  would  handsomely  and  effectually  move,  let  him 
pretend  to  wish  it  well,  and  move  it  himself  in  such 
sort  as  may  foil  it. 

The  breaking  off  in  the  midst  of  that  one  was 
about    to    say,   as    if   he    took    himself  up,    breeds   a 

1  ut  quis  vultum  ejus  cum  quo  coUoquitur  limatius  observet. 


OF  CUNNING.  155 

greater  appetite  in  him  with  whom  you  confer  to 
know  more. 

And  because  it  works  better  when  anything  seemeth 
to  be  gotten  from  you  by  question,  than  if  you  offer  it 
of  yourself,  you  may  lay  a  bait  for  a  question,  by  show- 
ing another  visage  and  countenance  than  you  are  wont ; 
to  the  end  to  give  occasion  for  the  party  to  ask  what 
the  matter  is  of  the  change  ?  As  Nehemias  did  ;  And 
I  had  not  before  that  time  been  sad  before  the  king. 

In  things  that  are  tender  and  unpleasing,  it  is  good 
to  break  the  ice  by  some  whose  words  are  of  less 
weight,  and  to  reserve  the  more  weightv  voice  to  come 
in  as  by  chance,  so  that  he  may  be  asked  the  question 
upon  the  other's  speech  ;  as  Narcissus  did,  in  relating 
to  Claudius  the  marriage  of  Messalina  and  Silius. 

In  things  that  a  man  would  not  be  seen  in  himself,  it 
is  a  point  of  cunning  to  borrow  the  name  of  the  world ; 
as  to  say.  The  world  says^  or  There  is  a  speech  abroad. 

I  knew  one  that,  when  he  wrote  a  letter,  he  would 
put  that  which  was  most  material  in  the  postscript,  as 
if  it  had  been  a  bye-matter. 

I  knew  another  that,  when  he  came  to  have  speech, 
he  would  pass  over  that  that  he  intended  most ;  and  go 
forth,  and  come  back  again,  and  speak  of  it  as  of  a 
thing  that  he  had  almost  forgot. 

Some  procure  themselves  to  be  surprised  at  such 
times  as  it  is  like  the  party  that  they  work  upon  will 
suddenly  come  upon  them  ;  and  to  be  found  with  a 
letter  in  their  hand,  or  doing  somewhat  which  they  are 
not  accustomed  ;  to  the  end  they  may  be  apposed  ^  of 
those  things  which  of  themselves  they  are  desirous  to 
utter. 

1  ut  interrogentur  de  its  rebus. 


OF  CUNNING. 

It  is  a  point  of  cunning,  to  let  fall  those  words  in  a 
man's  own  name,  which  he  would  have  another  man 
learn  and  use,  and  thereupon  take  advantage.^  I  knew 
two  that  were  competitors  for  the  secretary's  place  in 
Queen  Elizabeth's  time,  and  yet  kept  good  quarter  be- 
tween themselves  ;  ^  and  would  confer  one  with  another 
upon  the  business ;  and  the  one  of  them  said,  That  to 
be  a  secretary  in  the  declination  of  a  monarch^/  was  a 
ticklish  thing,  and  that  he  did  not  affect  it :  the  other 
straight  caught  up  those  words,  and  discoursed  with 
divers  of  his  friends,  that  he  had  no  reason  to  desire  to 
be  secretary  in  the  declination  of  a  monarchy.  The 
first  man  took  hold  of  it,  and  found  means  it  was  told 
the  Queen ;  w^ho  hearing  of  a  declination  of  a  monr 
archy^  took  it  so  ill,^  as  she  would  never  after  hear  of 
the  other's  suit. 

There  is  a  cunning,  which  we  in  England  call  *  The 
turning  of  the  cat  in  the  pan;  which  is,  when  that 
which  a  man  says  to  another,  he  lays  it  as  if  another 
had  said  it  to  him.  And  to  say  truth,  it  is  not 
easy,  when  such  a  matter  passed  between  two,  to 
make  it  appear  from  which  of  them  it  first  moved 
and  began. 

It  is  a  way  that  some  men  have,  to  glance  and  dart 
at  others  by  justifying  themselves  by  negatives  ;  as  to 
say.  This  I  do  not ;  as  Tigellinus  did  towards  Burrhus, 
Se  non  diversas  spes,  sed  incolumitatem  imperatoris  simr 
pliciter  spectare :   [That  he  had  not  several  hopes  to 


1  ut  inde  alterum  irretiat  et  subruat. 

2  qui  tamen  se  invicem  amice  tractahant. 

8  eaque  verba  ut  ad  Regiiue  aures  pervenirent,  tanquam  scilicet  ab  aUero 
prolata,  curavit ;  quoe.  indignata  circa  ilia  verba,  in  Declinatione  Monarchia^ 
cum  ipsa  se  vigentem  reputaret,  &c. 

•*  quod  Anglico  pi'overbio  Felem  in  aheno  vertere  satis  absurde  dicitur. 


OF  CUNNING.  157 

rest  on,  but  looked  simply  to  the  safety  of  the  Em- 
peror.] 

Some  have  in  readiness  so  many  tales  and  stories,  as 
there  is  nothing  they  would  insinuate,  but  they  can 
wrap  it  into  a  tale  ;  which  serveth  both  to  keep  them- 
selves more  in  guard,  and  to  make  others  carry  it  with 
more  pleasure.^ 

It  is  a  good  point  of  cunning,  for  a  man  to  shape  the 
answer  he  would  have  in  his  own  words  and  propo- 
sitions ;   for  it  makes  the  other  party  stick  the  less. 

It  is  strange  how  long  some  men  will  he  in  wait  to 
speak  somewhat  they  desire  to  say ;  and  how  far  about 
they  will  fetch  ;  and  how  many  other  matters  they  will 
beat  over,  to  come  near  it.  It  is  a  thing  of  great  pa- 
tience, but  yet  of  much  use. 

A  sudden,  bold,  and  unexpected  question  doth  many 
times  surprise  a  man,  and  lay  him  open.  Like  to  him 
that,  having  changed  his  name  and  walking  in  Paul's, 
another  suddenly  came  behind  him  and  called  him  by 
his  true  name,  whereat  straightways  he  looked  back. 

But  these  small  wares  and  petty  points  of  cunning 
are  infinite  ;  and  it  were  a  good  deed  to  make  a  list  of 
them  ;  ^  for  that  nothing  doth  more  hurt  in  a  state  than 
that  cunning  men  pass  for  wise. 

But  certainly  some  there  are  that  know  the  resorts 
and  falls  of  business,  that  cannot  sink  into  the  main  of 
it;^  like  a  house  that  hath  convenient  stairs  and  en- 
tries, but  never  a  fair  room.  Therefore  you  shall  see 
them  find  out  pretty  looses  in  the  conclusion,  but  are 

1  unde  et  se  magis  in  tuto  continent,  quasi  nihil  diserte  affirmantes,  et  rem 
ipsam  majore  cum  voluptate  spargi  efficiunt. 

2  Si  quis  eorum  conficeret  uberiorem  catalogum. 

3  nonnuUos  negotiorum  periodos  et  pausas  nosse,  qui  in  ipsorum  viscera  et 
inieriora  penetrare  nequeunt. 


158  OF  WISDOM  FOR  A  MAN'S   SELF. 

no  ways  able  to  examine  or  debate  matters.  And  yet 
commonly  they  take  advantage  of  their  inability,  and 
would  be  thought  wits  of  direction.^  Some  build 
rather  upon  the  abusing  of  others,  and  (as  we  now 
say)  putting  tricks  upon  them,  than  upon  soundness  of 
their  own  proceedings.  But  Salomon  saith,  Prudens 
advertit  ad  gressus  suos :  stultus  divertit  ad  dolos :  [The 
wise  man  taketh  heed  to  his  steps  :  the  fool  turneth 
aside  to  deceits.] 


XXIII.    Of  Wisdom  for  a  Man's  Self. 

An  ant  is  a  wise  creature  for  itself,  but  it  is  a  shrewd 
thing  in  an  orchard  or  garden.  And  certainly  men 
that  are  great  lovers  of  themselves  waste  the  public. 
Divide  with  reason  between  self-love  and  society  ;  and 
be  so  true  to  thyself,  as  thou  be  not  false  to  others ; 
specially  to  thy  king  and  country.  It  is  a  poor  centre 
of  a  man's  actions,  himself.  It  is  right  earth.  For 
that  only  stands  fast  upon  his  own  centre  ;  whereas  all 
things  that  have  affinity  with  the  heavens,  move  upon 
the  centre  of  another,  whicli  they  benefit.  The  refer- 
ring of  all  to  a  man's  self  is  more  tolerable  in  a  sover- 
eign prince ;  because  themselves  are  not  only  themselves, 
but  their  good  and  evil  is  at  the  peril  of  the  public  for- 
tune. But  it  is  a  desperate  evil  in  a  servant  to  a  prince, 
or  a  citizen  in  a  republic.  For  whatsoever  affairs  pass 
such  a  man's  hands,  he  crooketh  them  to  his  own  ends ; 
which  must  needs  be  often  eccentric  to  the  ends  of  his 

1  Itaque  tales  videhis  in  concliisionibtis  deliberationum  commodos  quosdam 
exitus  reperire ;  ad  rem  vero  examinandam  et  disceptandam  nullo  modo  suffi- 
eere.  Attamen  soepenuraero  ex  hoc  re  existimationem  quandam  aucupantwr  ; 
veluti  ingenia  quae,  ad  decernendum  potius  quam  ad  disputandum  sint  aptiora. 


OF  WISDOM  FOR  A  MAN'S  SELF.  159 

master  or  state.  Therefore  let  princes,  or  states,  choose 
such  servants  as  have  not  this  mark  ;  except  they  mean 
their  service  should  be  made  but  the  accessary.  That 
which  maketh  the  effect  more  pernicious  is  that  all  pro- 
portion is  lost.  It  were  disproportion  enough  for  the 
servant's  good  to  be  preferred  before  the  master's  ;  but 
yet  it  is  a  greater  extreme,  when  a  little  good  of  the 
servant  shall  carry  things  against  a  great  good  of  the 
master's.  And  yet  that  is  the  case  of  bad  officers, 
treasurers,  ambassadors,  generals,  and  other  false  and 
corrupt  servants ;  which  set  a  bias  upon  their  bowl, 
of  their  own  petty  ends  and  envies,  to  the  overthrow 
of  their  master's  great  and  important  affairs.  And  for 
the  most  part,  the  good  such  servants  receive  is  after 
the  model  of  their  own  fortune  ;  but  the  hurt  they  sell 
for  that  good  is  after  the  model  of  their  master's  for- 
tune. And  certainly  it  is  the  nature  of  extreme  self- 
lovers,  as  they  will  set  an  house  on  fire,  and  it  were 
but  to  roast  their  eggs  ;  and  yet  these  men  many  times 
hold  credit  with  their  masters,  because  their  study  is 
but  to  please  them  and  profit  themselves ;  and  for 
either  respect  they  will  abandon  the  good  of  their 
affairs. 

Wisdom  for  a  man's  self  is,  in  many  branches  there- 
of, a  depraved  thing.  It  is  the  wisdom  of  rats,  that 
will  be  sure  to  leave  a  house  somewhat  before  it  fall. 
It  is  the  wisdom  of  the  fox,  that  thrusts  out  the  badger, 
who  digged  and  made  room  for  him.  It  is  the  wisdom 
of  crocodiles,  that  shed  tears  when  they  would  devour. 
But  that  which  is  specially  to  be  noted  is,  that  those 
which  (as  Cicero  says  of  Pompey)  are  sui  a7nantes, 
sine  rivali,  [lovers  of  themselves  without  rival,]  are 
many  times  unfortunate.     And  whereas  they  have  all 


160  OF  INNOVATIONS. 

tlieir  times  sacrificed  to  tliemselves,  they  become  in  the 
end  themselves  sacrifices  to  the  inconstancy  of  fiartune ; 
whose  wings  they  thought  by  their  self-wisdom  to  have 
pinioned. 


XXIV.    Of  Innovations. 

As  the  births  of  living  creatures  at  first  are  ill- 
shapen,  so  are  all  Innovations,  which  are  the  births  of 
time.  Yet  notwithstanding,  as  those  that  first  bring 
honour  into  their  family  are  commonly  more  worthy 
than  most  that  succeed,  so  the  first  precedent  (if  it  be 
good)  is  seldom  attained  by  imitation.^  For  111,  to 
man's  nature  as  it  stands  perverted,  hath  a  natural  mo- 
tion, strongest  in  continuance  ;  but  Good,  as  a  forced 
motion,  strongest  at  first.  Surely  every  medicine  is  an 
innovation ;  and  he  that  will  not  apply  new  remedi( 
must  expect  new  evils ;  for  time  is  the  greatest  inno- 
vator ;  and  if  time  of  course  alter  things  to  the  worse, 
and  wisdom  and  counsel  shall  not  alter  them  to  the 
better,  what  shall  be  the  end  ?  It  is  true,  that  what  is 
settled  by  custom,  though  it  be  not  good,  yet  at  least 
it  is  fit;^  and  those  things  which  have  long  gone  to- 
gether, are  as  it  were  confederate  within  themselves ; 
whereas  new  things  piece  not  so  well  ;  ^  but  though 
they  help  by  their  utility,  yet  they  trouble  by  their  in- 
conformity.  Besides,  they  are  like  strangers  ;  more 
admired  and  less  favoured.  All  this  is  true,  if  time 
stood  still ;  which  contrariwise  moveth  so  round,  that 

1  Ita  remm  exemplaria  et  primordia  (quando  feliciter  jacta  sunt)  imitaA^ 
tionem  cetatis  sequentis  utplurimum  super  ant. 

2  aptum  esse  tamen  temporibus. 
8  vbi  contra,  nova  veteribus  nan  tisquequaque  tarn  concinne  cohwreant. 


OF  DISPATCH.  161 

froward  retention  of  custom  is  as  turbulent  a  thing  as 
an  innovation  ;  and  they  that  reverence  too  much  old 
times,  are  but  a  scorn  to  the  new.  It  were  good  there- 
fore that  men  in  their  innovations  would  follow  the  ex- 
ample of  time  itself;  which  indeed  innovate th  greatly, 
but  quietly,  and  by  degrees  scarce  to  be  perceived. 
For  otherwise,  whatsoever  is  new  is  unlooked  for ;  and 
ever  it  mends  some,  and  pairs  other  ;  and  he  that  is 
holpen  takes  it  for  a  fortune,  and  thanks  the  time  ;  and 
he  that  is  hurt,  for  a  wrong,  and  imputeth  it  to  the  au- 
thor. It  is  good  also  not  to  try  experiments  in  states,^ 
except  the  necessity  be  urgent,  or  the  utility  evident ; 
and  well  to  beware  that  it  be  the  reformation  that 
draweth  on  the  change,  and  not  the  desire  of  change 
that  pretendeth  the  reformation.  And  lastly,  that  the 
novelty,  though  it  be  not  rejected,  yet  be  held  for  a 
suspect;  and,  as  the  Scripture  saith,  that  we  make  a 
stand  upon  the  ancient  way^  and  then  look  about  us,  and 
discover  what  is  the  straight  and  right  way,  and  so  to 
walk  in  it. 


XXV.    Of  Dispatch. 

Affected  dispatch  ^  is  one  of  the  most  dangerous 
things  to  business  that  can  be.  It  is  like  that  which 
the  physicians  call  predigestion,  or  hasty  digestion ; 
which  is  sure  to  fill  the  body  full  of  crudities  and  secret 
seeds  of  diseases.  Therefore  measure  not  dispatch  by 
the  times  of  sitting,  but  by  the  advancement  of  the 
business.     And  as  in  races  it  is  not  the  large  stride  or 

1  in  corporibus  politicis  medendis. 

2  celeritas  nimia  et  affectata. 

VOL.   XII.  11 


162  OF  DISPATCH. 

high  lift  that  makes  the  speed ;  so  in  business,  the  keep- 
ing close  to  the  matter,  and  not  taking  of  it  too  much 
at  once,  procureth  dispatch.  It  is  the  care  of  some 
only  to  come  off  speedily^  for  the  time;  or  to  contrive 
some  false  periods  of  business,  because  they  may  seem 
men  of  dispatch.  But  it  is  one  thing  to  abbreviate  by 
contracting,  another  by  cutting  off.  And  business  so 
handled  at  several  sittings  or  meetings  goeth  commonly 
backward  and  forward  in  an  unsteady  manner.  I 
knew  a  wise  man  that  had  it  for  a  by-word,  when  he 
saw  men  hasten  to  a  conclusion,  Stay  a  little^  that  we 
may  make  an  end  the  sooner. 

On  the  other  side,  true  dispatch  is  a  rich  thing.  For 
time  is  the  measure  of  business,  as  money  is  of  wares  ; 
and  business  is  bought  at  a  dear  hand  where  there  is 
small  dispatch.  The  Spartans  and  Spaniards  have  been 
noted  to  be  of  small  dispatch ;  Mi  venga  la  muerte  de 
Spagna ;  Let  my  death  come  from  Spain ;  for  then  it 
will  be  sure  to  be  long  in  coming. 

Give  good  hearing  to  those  that  give  the  first  infor- 
mation in  business ;  and  rather  direct  them  in  the 
beginning,  than  interrupt  them  in  the  continuance  of 
their  speeches  ;  for  he  that  is  put  out  of  his  own  order 
will  go  forward  and  backward,  and  be  more  tedious 
while  he  waits  upon  his  memory,  than  he  could  have 
been  if  he  had  gone  on  in  his  own  course.  But  some- 
times it  is  seen  that  the  moderator  is  more  troublesome 
than  the  actor. 

Iterations  are  commonly  loss  of  time.  But  there  is 
no  such  gain  of  time  as  to  iterate  often  the  state  of  the 
question  ;  for  it  chaseth  away  many  a  frivolous  speech 
as  it  is  coming  forth.     Long  and  curious  speeches  are 

1  ut  brevi  tempore  multum  confecisse  videantur. 


OF  DISPATCH.  163 

as  fit  for  dispatch,  as  a  robe  or  mantle  with  a  long  train 
is  for  race.  Prefaces  and  passages,^  and  excusations, 
and  other  speeches  of  reference  to  the  person,  are  great 
wastes  of  time ;  and  though  they  seem  to  proceed  of 
modesty,  they  are  bravery .^  Yet  beware  of  being  too 
material  ^  when  there  is  any  impediment  or  obstruction 
in  men's  wills  ;  for  pre-occupation  of  mind  ever  requir- 
eth  preface  of  speech ;  like  a  fomentation  to  make  the 
unguent  enter. 

Above  all  things,  order,  and  distribution,  and  sin- 
gling out  of  parts,  is  the  life  of  dispatch  ;  so  as  the 
distribution  be  not  too  subtle  :  for  he  that  doth  not 
divide  will  never  enter  well  into  business  ;  and  he  that 
divideth  too  much  will  never  come  out  of  it  clearly. 
To  choose  time  is  to  save  time ;  and  an  unseasonable 
motion  is  but  beating  the  air.  There  be  three  parts  of 
business  ;  the  preparation,  the  debate  or  examination, 
and  the  perfection.  Whereof,  if  you  look  for  dispatch, 
let  the  middle  only  be  the  work  of  many,  and  the  first 
and  last  the  work  of  few.  The  proceeding  upon  some- 
what conceived  in  writing  doth  for  the  most  part  facili- 
tate dispatch :  for  though  it  should  be  wholly  rejected, 
yet  that  negative  is  more  pregnant  of  direction^  than 
an  indefinite ;  as  ashes  are  more  generative  than  dust. 

1  transitiones  bellce. 

2  glcn'ioke  captatrices. 

8  That  is,  of  keeping  too  close  to  the  matter.     Cave  ne  in  rem  ipsam  ah 
initio  descendas. 
^plus  valebit  ad  consilia  educenda. 


164 


OF  SEEMING  WISE. 


XXVI.    Of  Seeming  Wise. 

It  hath  been  an  opinion,  that  the  French  are  wiser 
than  they  seem,  and  the  Spaniards  seem  wiser  than 
they  are.  But  howsoever  it  be  between  nations,  cer- 
tainly it  is  so  between  man  and  man.  For  as  the 
Apostle  saith  of  godliness,  Having  a  shew  of  godliness^ 
hut  denying  the  fower  thereof ;  so  certainly  there  are  in 
point  of  wisdom  and  sufficiency,  that  do  nothing  or 
little  very  solemnly :  ^  magno  conatu  nugas.  It  is  a 
ridiculous  thing  and  fit  for  a  satire  to  persons  of  judg- 
ment, to  see  what  shifts  these  formalists  have,  and  what 
prospectives  2  to  make  superficies  to  seem  body  that 
hath  depth  and  bulk.  Some  are  so  close  and  reserved, 
as  they  will  not  shew  their  wares  but  by  a  dark  light ; 
and  seem  always  to  keep  back  somewhat ;  and  when 
they  know  within  themselves  they  speak  of  that  they 
do  not  well  know,  would  nevertheless  seem  to  others  to 
know  of  that  which  they  may  not  well  speak.  Some 
help  themselves  with  countenance  and  gesture,  and  are 
wise  by  signs ;  as  Cicero  saith  of  Piso,  that  when  he 
answered  him,  he  fetched  one  of  his  brows  up  to  his 
forehead,  and  bent  the  other  down  to  his  chin ;  Hesjjon- 
des,  altero  adfrontem  sublato,  altero  ad  mentum  depresso 
supercilio,  crudelitatem  tibi  non  placere.  Some  think  to 
bear  it  ^  by  speaking  a  great  word,  and  being  peremp- 
tory; and  go  on,  and  take  by  admittance  that  which 
they  cannot  make  good.^  Some,  whatsoever  is  beyond 
their  reach,  will  seem  to  despise  or  make  light  of  it  as 

1  ita  certe  inveniuntur  nonnulU  qui  nugantur  solemniter,  quum  prudentea 
minime  sint. 

2  et  quali  utantur  arte  quasi  prospectivd. 
8  se  valere  putant. 

4  itaque  nihil  morantur,  etpro  admissis  accipiunt  qticeprobare  nonpossunt. 


OF  FRIENDSHIP. 


165 


impertinent  or  cm*ious ;  and  so  would  have  their  igno- 
rance seem  judgment.  Some  are  never  without  a  differ- 
ence, and  commonly  by  amusing  men  with  a  subtilty, 
blanch  the  matter ;  ^  of  whom  A.  Gellius  saith,  JSomi- 
nem  delirum,  qui  verhorum  miiiutiis  rerum  frangit  pon- 
dera  :  [a  trifler,  that  with  verbal  points  and  niceties 
breaks  up  the  mass  of  matter].  Of  which  kind  also, 
Plato  in  his  Protagoras  bringeth  in  Prodicus  in  scorn, 
and  maketh  him  make  a  speech  that  consisteth  of  dis- 
tinctions from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  Generally, 
such  men  in  all  deliberations  find  ease  to  be  of  the 
negative  side,  and  affect  a  credit  to  object  and  foretell 
difficulties  ;  for  when  propositions  are  denied,  there  is 
an  end  of  them  ;  but  if  they  be  allowed,  it  requireth  a 
new  work ;  which  false  point  of  wisdom  is  the  bane  of 
business.  To  conclude,  there  is  no  decaying  merchant, 
or  inward  beggar,^  hath  so  many  tricks  to  uphold  the 
credit  of  their  wealth,  as  these  empty  persons  have  to 
maintain  the  credit  of  their  sufficiency.  Seeming  wise 
men  may  make  shift  to  get  opinion ;  ^  but  let  no  man 
choose  them  for  employment ;  for  certainly  you  were 
better  take  for  business  a  man  somewhat  absurd  than 
over-formal.* 


XXVII.     Of  Friendship. 


It  had  been  hard  for  him  that  spake  it  to  have  put 
more  truth  and  untruth  together  in  few  words,  than  in 

1  rem  prcetervehuntur. 

2  decoctor  rei  familiaiis  occultus. 

3  Certe  homines  hac  prudentia  prasditi  qpinionem  vulgi  facile  aucupari 
possunt. 

4  quam  hujusmodi  fcn^iaUstam  fastidiosum. 


166  OF  FRIENDSHIP. 

that  speech,  Whosoever  is  delighted  in  solitude  is  either  a 
wild  beast  or  a  god.  For  it  is  most  true  that  a  natural 
and  secret  hatred  and  aversation  towards  society  in  any 
man,  hath  somewhat  of  the  savage  beast ;  but  it  is 
most  untrue  that  it  should  have  any  character  at  all 
of  the  divine  nature ;  except  it  proceed,  not  out  of  a 
pleasure  in  solitude,  but  out  of  a  love  and  desire  to 
sequester  a  man's  self  for  a  higher  conversation  :  such 
as  is  found  to  have  been  falsely  and  feignedly  in  some 
of  the  heathen ;  as  Epimenides  the  Candian,  Numa  the 
Roman,  Erapedocles  the  Sicilian,  and  Apollonius  of 
Tyana ;  and  truly  and  really  in  divers  of  the  ancient 
heiTnits  and  holy  fathers  of  the  church.  But  little  do 
men  perceive  what  solitude  is,  and  how  far  it  extend- 
eth.  For  a  crowd  is  not  company ;  and  faces  are  but 
a  gallery  of  pictures  ;  and  talk  but  a  tinkhng  cymbal, 
where  there  is  no  love.  The  Latin  adage  meeteth  with 
it  a  little :  Magna  civitas,  magna  solitudo ;  [a  great 
to\\Ti  is  a  great  solitude  ;  ]  because  in  a  great  town 
friends  are  scattered  ;  so  that  there  is  not  that  fellow- 
ship, for  the  most  part,  which  is  in  less  neighbourhoods. 
But  we  may  go  further,  and  affirm  most  truly  that  it 
is  a  mere  and  miserable  solitude  to  want  time  friends  ; 
without  which  the  world  is  but  a  wilderness ;  and  even 
in  this  sense  also  of  solitude,  whosoever  in  the  frame 
of  his  nature  and  affections  is  unfit  for  friendsliip,  he 
taketh  it  of  the  beast,  and  not  from  humanity. 

A  principal  fniit  of  friendship  is  the  ease  and  dis- 
charge of  the  fulness  and  swellings  of  the  heart,  which 
passions  of  all  kinds  do  cause  and  induce.  We  know 
diseases  of  stoppings  and  suffocations  are  the  most  dan- 
gerous in  the  body ;  and  it  is  not  much  otherwise  in 
the  mind ;  you  may  take  sarza  to  open  the  liver,  steel 


OF  FRIENDSHIP. 


167 


to  open  the  spleen,  flower^  of  sulphur  for  the  lungs, 
castoreum  for  the  brain ;  but  no  receipt  openeth  the 
heart,  but  a  true  friend  ;  to  whom  you  may  impart 
griefs,  joys,  fears,  hopes,  suspicions,  counsels,  and  what- 
soever lieth  upon  the  heart  to  oppress  it,  in  a  kind  of 
civil  shrift  or  confession. 

It  is  a  strange  thing  to  observe  how  high  a  rate 
great  kings  and  monarchs  do  set  upon  this  finiit  of 
friendship  whereof  we  speak :  so  great,  as  they  pur- 
chase it  many  times  at  the  hazard  of  their  own  safety 
and  greatness.  For  princes,  in  regard  of  the  distance 
of  their  fortune  from  that  of  their  subjects  and  servants, 
cannot  gather  this  fruit,  except  (to  make  themselves 
capable  thereof)  they  raise  some  persons  to  be  as  it 
were  companions  and  almost  equals  to  themselves, 
which  many  times  sorteth  to  inconvenience.  The 
modem  languages  give  unto  such  persons  the  name  of 
favourites,  or  privadoes ;  as  if  it  were  matter  of  grace, 
or  conversation.  But  the  Roman  name  attaineth  the 
true  use  and  cause  thereof,  naming  them  partidpes 
curarum  ;  for  it  is  that  which  tieth  the  knot.  And  we 
see  plainly  that  this  hath  been  done,  not  by  weak  and 
passionate  princes  only,^  but  by  the  wisest  and  most 
pohtic  that  ever  reigned ;  who  have  oftentimes  joined 
to  themselves  some  of  their  servants  ;  whom  both 
themselves  have  called  friends,  and  allowed  others  like- 
wise to  call  them  in  the  same  manner  ;  using  the  word 
which  is  received  between  private  men. 

L.  Sylla,  when  he  commanded  Rome,  raised  Pom- 
pey  (after  sumamed  the  Great)  to  that  height,  that 
Pompey  vaunted  himself  for  Sylla's  over-match.     For 

1  So  Ed.  1639.    The  original  edition  has/oit'era. 

2  delicatos  et  imbeciUls  animi. 


168 


OF  FRIENDSHIP. 


when  he  had  carried  the  consulship  for  a  friend  of  his,^ 
against  the  pursuit  of  Sylla,  and  that  Sjlla  did  a  little 
resent  thereat,  and  began  to  speak  great,  Pompey 
turned  upon  him  again,  and  in  effect  bade  him  be 
quiet ;  for  that  Trwre  men  adored  the  sun  rising  than  the 
sun  setting.  With  Julius  Caesar,  Decimus  Brutus  had 
obtained  that  interest,  as  he  set  him  down  in  his  testa- 
ment for  heir  in  remainder  after  his  nephew.  And 
this  was  the  man  that  had  power  with  him  to  draw 
him  forth  to  his  death.  For  when  Csesar  would  have 
discharged  the  senate,  in  regard  of  some  ill  presages, 
and  specially  a  dream  of  Calpurnia  ;  this  man  lifted 
him  gently  by  the  arm  out  of  his  chair,  telling  him  he 
hoped  he  would  not  dismiss  the  senate  ^  till  his  wife  had 
dreamt  a  better  dream.  And  it  seemeth  his  favour 
was  so  great,  as  Antonius,  in  a  letter  which  is  recited 
verbatim  in  one  of  Cicero's  Philippics,  calleth  him  vene- 
fica,  witch  ;  as  if  he  had  enchanted  Caesar.  Augustus 
raised  Agrippa  (though  of  mean  birth)  to  that  height, 
as  when  he  consulted  with  Maecenas  about  the  mar- 
riage of  his  daughter  Julia,  Maecenas  took  the  liberty 
to  tell  him,  that  he  must  either  marry  his  daughter  to 
Agrippa^  or  take  away  his  life  :  there  was  no  third  way^ 
he  had  made  him  so  great.  With  Tiberius  Caesar, 
Sejanus  had  ascended  to  that  height,^  as  they  two  were 
termed  and  reckoned  as  a  pair  of  friends.  Tiberius  in 
a  letter  to  him  saith,  hoic  pro  amicitid  nostra  non  occul- 
tavi ;  [these  things,  as  our  friendship  required,  I  have 
not  concealed  from  you ;  ]    and  the  whole  senate  dedi- 


1  Lepidus.     See  Plutarch  in  Pompey.    But  the  occasion  on  which  Pom- 
pey made  the  remark  in  question  was  Sylla's  opposition  to  his  triumph. 

2  eum  7ion  senatum  tam  parvi  habiturum,  ut  dimittere  ilium  vellet,  &c. 

3  Tiberius  Ccesar  Sejanum  tantis  honoribus  auxit. 


OF  FRIENDSHIP.  169 

cated  an  altar  to  Friendship,  as  to  a  goddess,  in  respect 
of  the  great  dearness  of  friendship  between  them  two. 
The  hke  or  more  was  between  Septimius  Severus  and 
Plautianus.^  For  he  forced  his  eldest  son  to  marry  the 
daughter  of  Plautianus  ;  and  would  often  maintain 
Plautianus  in  doing  affronts  to  his  son  ;  ^  and  did  write 
also  in  a  letter  to  the  senate,  by  these  words :  I  love  the 
man  so  well^  as  I  wish  he  may  over-live  me.  Now  if 
these  princes  had  been  as  a  Trajan  or  a  Marcus  Aure- 
lius,  a  man  might  have  thought  that  this  had  proceeded 
of  an  abundant  goodness  of  nature  ;  but  being  men  so 
wise,  of  such  strength  and  severity  of  mind,  and  so 
extreme  lovers  of  themselves,  as  all  these  were,  it  prov- 
eth  most  plainly  that  they  found  their  own  felicity 
(though  as  great  as  ever  happened  to  mortal  men)  but 
as  an  half  piece,  except  they  mought  have  a  friend  to 
make  it  entire  ;  and  yet,  which  is  more,  they  were 
princes  that  had  wives,  sons,  nephews  ;  and  yet  all 
these  could  not  supply  the  comfort  of  friendship. 

It  is  not  to  be  forgotten  what  Comineus  observeth  of 
his  first  master,  Duke  Charles  the  Hardy  ;  namely, 
that  he  would  communicate  his  secrets  with  none  ;  and 
least  of  all,  those  secrets  which  troubled  him  most. 
Whereupon  he  goeth  on  and  saith  that  towards  his 
latter  time  that  closeness  did  impair  and  a  little  perish 
his  U7ider standing.  Surely  Comineus  mought  have 
made  the  same  judgment  also,  if  it  had  pleased  him,  of 
his  second  master  Lewis  the  Eleventh,  whose  closeness 
was  indeed  his  tormentor.  The  parable  of  Pythagoras 
is  dark,  but  true  ;     Cor  ne  edito :    Eat  not  the  heart. 

1  Plantianus  in  the  original,  and  also  in  Ed.  1689,  and  in  the  Latin  trans- 
lation, in  all  the  places. 

2  Plantiarmm  smpe,  etiam  cum  confumdia  filii  std^  Jionornvit. 


170 


OF  FRIENDSHIP. 


Certainly,  if  a  man  would  give  it  a  hard  phrase,  those 
that  want  friends  to  open  themselves  unto  are  canni- 
bals of  their  own  hearts.  But  one  thing  is  most 
admirable  (wherewith  I  will  conclude  this  first  fruit 
of  friendship),  which  is,  that  this  communicating  of  a 
man's  self  to  his  friend  works  two  contrary  effects ;  for 
it  redoubleth  joys,  and  cutteth  griefs  in  halfs.  For 
there  is  no  man  that  imparteth  his  joys  to  his  friend, 
but  he  joyeth  the  more :  and  no  man  that  imparteth 
his  griefs  to  his  friend,  but  he  grieveth  the  less.  So 
that  it  is  in  truth  of  operation  upon  a  man's  mind,  of 
like  virtue  as  the  alchymists  use  to  attribute  to  their 
stone  for  man's  body ;  that  it  worketh  all  contrary 
effects,  but  still  to  the  good  and  benefit  of  nature. 
But  yet  without  praying  in  aid  of  alchymists,  there  is 
a  manifest  image  of  this  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
nature.  For  in  bodies,  union  strengtheneth  and  cher- 
isheth  any  natural  action ;  and  on  the  other  side  weak- 
eneth  and  dulleth  any  violent  impression  :  and  even  so 
it  is  of  minds. 

The  second  fruit  of  fi'iendship  is  healthful  and  sov- 
ereign for  the  understanding,  as  the  first  is  for  the 
affections.  For  friendship  maketh  indeed  a  fair  day 
in  the  affections,  from  storm  and  tempests  ;  but  it 
maketh  daylight  in  the  understanding,  out  of  darkness 
and  confusion  of  thoughts.  Neither  is  this  to  be  un- 
derstood only  of  faithful  counsel,  which  a  man  receiv- 
eth  from  his  friend  ;  but  before  you  come  to  that, 
certain  it  is  that  whosoever  hath  his  mind  fraught  with 
many  thoughts,  his  wits  and  understanding  do  clarify 
and  break  up,  in  the  communicating  and  discoursing 
with  another;  he  tosseth  his  thoughts  more  easily  ;  he 
marshalleth  them  more  orderly ;    he  seeth  how  they 


OF   FRIENDSHIP.  171 

look  when  they  are  turned  into  words :  finally,  he 
waxeth  wiser  than  himself ;  and  that  more  by  an 
hour's  discourse  than  by  a  day's  meditation.  It  was 
well  said  by  Themistocles  to  the  king  of  Persia,  That 
speech  was  like  cloth  of  Arras,  opened  and  put  abroad; 
whereby  the  imagery  doth  appear  in  figure;  whereas  in 
thoughts  they  lie  but  as  in  packs.  Neither  is  the  second 
fruit  of  friendship,  in  opening  the  understanding,  re- 
strained only  to  such  friends  as  are  able  to  give  a  man 
counsel  ;  (they  indeed  are  best ; )  but  even  without 
that,  a  man  learneth  of  himself,  and  bringeth  his  own 
thoughts  to  light,  and  whetteth  his  wits  as  against  a 
stone,  which  itself  cuts  not.  In  a  word,  a  man  were 
better  relate  himself  to  a  statua  or  picture,  than  to 
suffer  his  thoughts  to  pass  in  smother. 

Add  now,  to  make  this  second  fruit  of  friendship 
complete,  that  other  point  which  lieth  more  open  and 
falleth  within  vulgar  observation  ;  which  is  faithful 
counsel  from  a  friend.  Heraclitus  saith  well  in  one  of 
his  enigmas.  Dry  light  is  ever  the  best.  And  certain  it 
is,  that  the  light  that  a  man  receiveth  by  counsel  from 
another,  is  drier  and  purer  than  that  which  cometh 
from  his  own  understanding  and  judgment ;  which  is 
ever  infused  and  drenched  in  his  affections  and  cus- 
toms. So  as  there  is  as  much  difference  between  the 
counsel  that  a  friend  giveth,  and  that  a  man  giveth 
himself,  as  there  is  between  the  counsel  of  a  friend  and 
of  a  flatterer.  For  there  is  no  such  flatterer  as  is  a 
man's  self;  and  there  is  no  such  remedy  against  flat- 
tery of  a  man's  self,  as  the  liberty  of  a  friend.  Counsel 
is  of  two  sorts :  the  one  concerning  manners,  the  other 
concerning  business.  For  the  first,  the  best  preserv- 
ative to  keep  the  mind  in  health  is  the  faithful  admo- 


172  OF  FRIENDSHIP. 

nition  of  a  friend.  The  calling  of  a  man's  self  to  a 
strict  account  is  a  medicine,  sometime,  too  piercing  and 
corrosive.  Reading  good  books  of  morality  is  a  little 
flat  and  dead.  Observing  our  faults  in  others  is  some- 
times improper  for  our  case.^  But  the  best  receipt 
(best,  I  say,  to  work,  and  best  to  take)  is  the  admo- 
nition of  a  friend.  It  is  a  strange  thing  to  behold  what 
gross  errors  and  extreme  absurdities  many  (especially 
of  the  greater  sort)  do  commit,  for  want  of  a  friend  to 
tell  them  of  them  ;  to  the  great  damage  both  of  their 
fame  and  fortune :  for,  as  St.  James  saith,  they  are 
as  men  that  look  sometimes  into  a  glass ^  and  presently 
forget  their  oivn  shape  and  favour.  As  for  business,  a 
man  may  think,  if  he  will,  that  two  eyes  see  no  more 
than  one ;  or  that  a  gamester  seeth  always  more  than 
a  looker-on ;  or  that  a  man  in  anger  is  as  wise  as  he 
that  hath  said  over  the  four  and  twenty  letters  ;  or 
that  a  musket  may  be  shot  off  as  well  upon  the  arm 
as  upon  a  rest ;  and  such  other  fond  and  high  imagi- 
nations, to  think  himself  all  in  all.  But  when  all  is 
done,  the  help  of  good  counsel  is  that  which  setteth 
business  straight.  And  if  any  man  think  that  he  will 
take  counsel,  but  it  shall  be  by  pieces  ;  asking  counsel 
in  one  business  of  one  man,  and  in  another  business  of 
another  man ;  it  is  well,  (that  is  to  say,  better  perhaps 
than  if  he  asked  none  at  all ;  )  but  he  runneth  two 
dangers  :  one,  that  he  shall  not  be  faithfully  coun- 
selled ;  for  it  is  a  rare  thing,  except  it  be  from  a  per- 
fect and  entire  friend,  to  have  counsel  given,  but  such 
as  shall  be  bowed  and  crooked  to  some  ends  which  he 
hath  that  giveth  it.      The  other,  that  he  shall  have 

1  observatio  propriorum  defectuum  in  aliis,  tanquam  in  speculo,  aliquando, 
utfit  etiam  in  speculis,  minus  respondet. 


OF  FRIENDSHIP.  1T3 

counsel  given,  hurtful  and  unsafe,  (though  with  good 
meaning,)  and  mixed  partly  of  mischief  and  partly  of 
remedy  ;  even  as  if  you  would  call  a  physician  that 
is  thought  good  for  the  cure  of  the  disease  you  com- 
plain of,  but  is  unacquainted  with  your  body  ;  and 
therefore  may  put  you  in  way  for  a  present  cure,  but 
overthroweth  your  health  in  some  other  kind  ;  and  so 
cure  the  disease  and  kill  the  patient.  But  a  friend 
that  is  wholly  acquainted  with  a  man's  estate  will  be- 
ware^ by  furthering  any  present  business,  how  he  dash- 
eth  upon  other  inconvenience.  And  therefore  rest  not 
upon  scattered  counsels ;  they  will  rather  distract  and 
mislead,  than  settle  and  direct. 

After  these  two  noble  fruits  of  friendship,  (peace  in 
the  affections,  and  support  of  the  judgment,)  followeth 
the  last  fruit ;  which  is  like  the  pomegranate,  full  of 
many  kernels ;  I  mean  aid  and  bearing  a  part  in  all 
actions  and  occasions.  Here  the  best  way  to  represent 
to  life  the  manifold  use  of  friendship,  is  to  cast  and  see 
how  many  things  there  are  which  a  man  cannot  do 
himself;  and  then  it  will  appear  that  it  was  a  sparing 
speech  of  the  ancients,  to  say,  that  a  friend  is  another 
himself ;  for  that  a  friend  is  far  more  than  himself. 
Men  have  their  time,  and  die  many  times  in  desire  of 
some  things  which  they  principally  take  to  heart ;  the 
bestowing  of  a  child,  the  finishing  of  a  work,  or  the 
like.  If  a  man  have  a  true  friend,  he  may  rest  almost 
secure  that  the  care  of  those  things  will  continue  after 
him.  So  that  a  man  hath,  as  it  were,  two  lives  in  his 
desires.  1     A  man  hath  a  body,  and  that  body  is  con- 

1  adeo  ut  fatum  immaturum  vix  obsit;  atque  haieat  quis  {ut  hquamur  more 
tribulum  aut  Jirmariorum)  in  desideriis  suis  terminum  non  unius  sed  duarum 
vitarum. 


174  OF  EXPENSE. 

fined  to  a  place  ;  but  where  friendship  is,  all  offices  of 
life  are  as  it  were  granted  to  him  and  his  deputy.  For 
he  may  exercise  them  by  his  friend.  How  many 
things  are  there  which  a  man  cannot,  with  any  face 
or  comeliness,  say  or  do  himself  ?  A  man  can  scarce 
allege  his  own  merits  with  modesty,  much  less  extol 
them  ;  a  man  cannot  sometimes  brook  to  supplicate  or 
beg ;  and  a  number  of  the  like.  But  all  these  things 
are  graceftil  in  a  friend's  mouth,  which  are  blushing  in 
a  man's  own.  So  again,  a  man's  person  hath  many 
proper  relations  which  he  cannot  put  off.  A  man 
cannot  speak  to  his  son  but  as  a  father  ;  to  his  wife 
but  as  a  husband ;  to  his  enemy  but  upon  terms  : 
whereas  a  friend  may  speak  as  the  case  requires,  and 
not  as  it  sorteth  with  the  person.  But  to  enumerate 
these  things  were  endless ;  I  have  given  the  rule, 
where  a  man  cannot  fitly  play  his  own  part ;  if  he 
have  not  a  friend,  he  may  quit  the  stage. 


XXVIII.    Of  Expense. 

Riches  are  for  spending,  and  spending  for  honour 
and  good  actions.  Therefore  extraordinary  expense 
must  be  limited  ^  by  the  worth  of  the  occasion  ;  for 
voluntary  undoing  may  be  as  well  for  a  man's  country 
as  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  But  ordinary  expense 
ought  to  be  limited  by  a  man's  estate ;  and  governed 
with  such  regard,  as  it  be  within  his  compass ;  and  not 
subject  to  deceit  and  abuse  of  servants ;  and  ordered  to 
the  best  shew,  that  the  bills  may  be  less  than  the  esti- 
mation abroad.     Certainly,  if  a  man  will  keep  but  of 

1  commenswrandi. 


OF  EXPENSE.  175 

even  hand,^  liis  ordinary  expenses  ought  to  be  but  to 
the  half  of  his  receipts ;  and  if  he  think  to  wax  rich, 
but  to  the  third  part.  It  is  no  baseness  for  the  greatest 
to  descend  and  look  into  their  own  estate.  Some  for- 
bear it,  not  upon  negligence  alone,  but  doubting  to 
bring  themselves  into  melancholy,  in  respect  they  shall 
find  it  broken.  But  wounds  cannot  be  cured  without 
searching.  He  that  cannot  look  into  his  own  estate  at 
all,  had  need  both  choose  well  those  whom  he  employ- 
eth,  and  change  them  often ;  for  new  are  more  timor- 
ous and  less  subtle.  He  that  can  look  into  his  estate 
but  seldom,  it  behoveth  him  to  turn  all  to  certainties. ^ 
A  man  had  need,  if  he  be  plentiful  in  some  kind  of 
expense,  to  be  as  saving  again  in  some  other.  As  if  he 
be  plentiful  in  diet,  to  be  saving  in  apparel ;  if  he  be 
plentiful  in  the  hall,  to  be  saving  in  the  stable ;  and  the 
like.  For  he  that  is  plentiful  in  expenses  of  all  kinds 
will  hardly  be  preserved  from  decay.  In  clearing  of  a 
man's  estate,  he  may  as  well  hurt  himself  in  being  too 
sudden,  as  in  letting  it  run  on  too  long.  For  hasty 
selling  is  commonly  as  disadvantageable  as  interest. 
Besides,  he  that  clears  at  once  will  relapse ;  for  finding 
himself  out  of  straits,  he  will  revert  to  his  customs : 
but  he  that  cleareth  by  degrees  induceth  a  habit  of 
frugality,  and  gaineth  as  well  upon  his  mind  as  upon 
his  estate.  Certainly,  who  hath  a  state  to  repair,  may 
not  despise  small  things  ;  and  commonly  it  is  less  dis- 
honourable to  abridge  petty  charges,  than  to  stoop  to 
petty  gettings.  A  man  ought  warily  to  begin  charges 
which  once  begun  will  continue  :  but  in  matters  that 
return  not  he  may  be  more  magnificent. 

1  qui  diminutionem  fortunarum  suarumpati  nolit. 

2  qwcB  computationi  subjacent,  in  certos  reditus  atque  etiam  sumptus  vertere. 


176  OF   THE  TRUE  GREATNESS 

XXIX.    Of  the  True  Greatness  of  Kingdoms 
AND  Estates. 

The  speech  of  Themistocles  the  Athenian,  which 
was  haughty  and  arrogant  in  taking  so  much  to  him- 
self,^ had  been  a  grave  and  wise  observation  and  cen- 
sure, applied  at  large  to  others.  Desired  at  a  feast 
to  touch  a  lute,  he  said.  He  could  not  fiddle^  hut  yet  he 
could  make  a  small  town  a  great  city.  These  words 
(holpen  a  little  with  a  metaphor  2)  may  express  two 
differing^  abilities  in  those  that  deal  in  business  of 
estate.  For  if  a  true  survey  be  taken  of  counsellors 
and  statesmen,  there  may  be  found  (though  rarely) 
those  which  can  make  a  small  state  great,  and  yet 
cannot  fiddle  :  as  on  the  other  side,  there  will  be  found 
a  great  many  that  can  fiddle  very  cunningly,*  but  yet 
are  so  far  from  being  able  to  make  a  small  state  great, 
as  their  gift  lieth  the  other  way  ;  to  bring  a  great  and 
flourishing  estate  to  ruin  and  decay.  And,  certainly 
those  degenerate  arts  and  shifts,  whereby  many  coun- 
sellors and  governors  gain  both  favour  with  their 
masters  and  estimation  with  the  vulgar,  deserve  no 
better  name  than  fiddling ;  being  things  rather  pleas- 
ing for  the  time,  and  graceful  to  themselves  only,  than 
tending  to  the  weal  and  advancement  of  the  state 
which  they  serve.  There  are  also  (no  doubt)  coun- 
sellors and  governors  which  may  be  held  sufficient 
(negotiis  pares)  ^  able  to  manage  affairs,  and  to  keep 
them   from   precipices    and   manifest    inconveniences ; 


1  sibi  ipsi  appUcatum,  incivile  certefuii  et  inflatum. 

2  ad  sensum  politicum  translata. 
8  muUum  inter  se  discrepantes. 

*  in  cithara  aut  lyra  {hoc  est  aulicis  tricis)  min  artifices. 


OF  KINGDOMS  AND   ESTATES.  177 

which  nevertheless  are  far  from  the  ability  to  raise 
and  amplify  an  estate  in  power,  means,  and  fortune. 
But  be  the  workmen  what  they  may  be,  let  us  speak 
of  the  work ;  that  is,  the  true  Greatness  of  Kingdoms 
and  Estates,  and  the  means  thereof.  An  argument  fit 
for  great  and  mighty  princes  to  have  in  their  hand  ; 
to  the  end  that  neither  by  over-measuring  their  forces, 
they  leese  themselves  in  vain  enterprises  ;  nor  on  the 
other  side,  by  undervaluing  them,  they  descend  to 
fearful  and  pusillanimous  counsels. 

The  greatness  of  an  estate  in  bulk  and  territory, 
doth  fall  under  measure ;  and  the  greatness  of  finances 
and  revenew  doth  fall  under  computation.  The  popu- 
lation may  appear  by  musters ;  and  the  number  and 
greatness  of  cities  and  towns  by  cards  and  maps.  But 
yet  there  is  not  any  thing  amongst  civil  affairs  more 
subject  to  error,  than  the  right  valuation  and  true 
judgment  concerning  the  power  and  forces  of  an 
estate.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  compared,  not  to 
any-  great  kernel  or  nut,  but  to  a  grain  of  mustard- 
seed  ;  which  is  one  of  the  least  grains,  but  hath  in  it 
a  property  and  spirit  hastily  to  get  up  and  spread.  So 
are  there  states  great  in  territory,  and  yet  not  apt  to 
enlarge  or  command  ;  ^  and  some  that  have  but  a  small 
dimension  of  stem,  and  yet  apt  to  be  the  foundations  of 
great  monarchies. 

Walled  towns,  stored  arsenals  and  armories,  goodly 
races  of  horse,  chariots  of  war,  elephants,  ordnance, 
artillery,  and  the  like ;  all  this  is  but  a  sheep  in  a  lion's 
skin,  except  the  breed  and  disposition  of  the  people  be 
stout  and  warlike.  Nay,  number  (itself)  in  armies 
importeth   not   much,  where   the   people   is  of  weak 

1  latius  imperandum. 

VOL.   XII.  12 


178  OF  THE  TRUE   GREATNESS 

coui'age ;  for  (as  Virgil  saith)  It  never  troubles  a  wolf 
how  many  the  sheep  he.  The  army  of  the  Persians  in 
the  plains  of  Arbela  was  such  a  vast  sea  of  people, 
as  it  did  somewhat  astonish  the  commanders  in  Alex- 
ander's army  ;  who  came  to  him  therefore,  and  wished 
him  to  set  upon  them  by  night ;  but  he  answered, 
He  would  not  pilfer  the  victory.  And  the  defeat  was 
easy.^  When  Tigranes  the  Armenian,  being  encamped 
upon  a  hill  with  four  hundred  thousand  men,  discov- 
ered the  army  of  the  Romans,  being  not  above  fourteen 
thousand,  marching  towards  him,  he  made  himself 
merry  with  it,  and  said,  Yondefr  men  are  too  many  for 
an  ambassage,  and  too  few  for  a  fight.  But  before  the 
sun  set,  he  found  them  enow  to  give  him  the  chase 
with  infinite  slaughter.  Many  are  the  examples  of  the 
great  odds  between  number  and  courage :  so  that  a 
man  may  truly  make  a  judgment,  that  the  principal 
point  of  greatness  in  any  state  is  to  have  a  race  of 
military  men.^  Neither  is  money  the  sinews  of  war 
(as  it  is  trivially  said,^)  where  the  sinews  of  men's 
arms,  in  base  and  effeminate  people,  are  failing.  For 
Solon  said  well  to  Croesus  (when  in  ostentation  he 
shewed  him  his  gold.  Sir.,  if  any  other  come  that  hath 
better  iron  than  you.,  he  will  be  master  of  all  this  gold. 
Therefore  let  any  prince  or  state  think  soberly  of  his 
forces,  except  his  militia  of  natives  be  of  good  and 
valiant  soldiers.  And  let  princes,  on  the  other  side, 
that  have  subjects  of  martial  disposition,  know  their 
own  strength ;  unless  they  be  otherwise  wanting  unto 

1  Ea  autem  etiam  opinixme  fuit  fadlior. 

2  Primo  igitur  pro  re  certissimd  et  exploratissimd  decematur  et  statuatur, 
quod  caput  omnium  quoe  ad  magnititdinem  I'egni  aut  status  spectant,  sit  ut 
populus  ipse  sit  stirpe  et  ingenio  bellicosus. 

3  Atque  illud  magis  tritum  quam  verum,  quod  ne'rvi  belli  sint pecuniai. 


OF  KINGDOMS  AND  ESTATES. 


179 


themselves.  As  for  mercenary  forces  (which  is  the 
help  in  this  case),  all  examples  show  that  whatsoever 
estate  or  prince  doth  rest  upon  them,  he  may  spread  his 
feathers  for  a  time^  hut  he  ivill  mew  them  soon  after. 

The  blessing  of  Judah  and  Issachar  will  never  meet ; 
that  the  same  people  or  nation  should  he  hoth  the  lion's 
whelp  and  the  ass  hetween  hurthens ;  neither  will  it  be, 
that  a  people  overlaid  with  taxes  should  ever  become 
valiant  and  martial.  It  is  true  that  taxes  levied  by 
consent  of  the  estate  do  abate  men's  courage  less :  as 
it  hath  been  seen  notably  in  the  excises  of  the  Low 
Countries  ;  and,  in  some  degree,  in  the  subsidies  of 
England.  For  you  must  note  that  we  speak  now  of 
the  heart  and  not  of  the  purse.  So  that  although  the 
same  tribute  and  tax,  laid  by  consent  or  by  imposing, 
be  all  one  to  the  purse,  yet  it  works  diversly  upon  the 
courage.  So  that  you  may  conclude,  that  no  people 
over-charged  ivith  trihute  is  fit  for  empire. 

Let  states  that  aim  at  greatness,  take  heed  how  their 
nobility  and  gentlemen  do  multiply  too  fast.  For  that 
maketh  the  common  subject  grow  to  be  a  peasant  and 
base  swain,  driven  out  of  heart,  and  in  effect  but  the 
gentleman's  labourer.  Even  as  you  may  see  in  cop- 
pice woods ;  if  you  leave  your  staddles  ^  too  thick,  you 
shall  never  have  clean  underwood,^  but  shrubs  and 
bushes.  So  in  countries,  if  the  gentlemen  be  too 
many,  the  commons  will  be  base ;  and  you  will  bring 
it  to  that,  that  not  the  hundred  poll  will  be  fit  for 
an  helmet ;  especially  as  to  the  infantry,  which  is  the 
nerve  of  an  army ;  and  so  there  will  be  great  popu- 
lation and  little  strength.     This  which  I  speak  of  hath 

1  catidicum,  dve  arborum  majorum. 

2  non  renascitur  sylva  sincera  autpura. 


180  OF  THE  TRUE  GREATNESS 

been  no  where  better  seen  than  by  comparing  of  Eng- 
land and  France  ;  whereof  England,  though  far  less  in 
territory  and  population,  hath  been  (nevertheless)  an 
over-match ;  in  regard  the  middle  people  of  England 
make  good  soldiers,  which  the  peasants  of  France  do 
not.  And  herein  the  device  of  king  Henry  the  Sev- 
enth (whereof  I  have  spoken  largely  in  the  history  of 
his  life)  was  profound  and  admirable ;  in  making  farms 
and  houses  of  husbandry  of  a  standard  ;  that  is,  main- 
tained with  such  a  proportion  of  land  unto  them,  as 
may  breed  a  subject  to  live  in  convenient  plenty  and 
no  servile  condition ;  and  to  keep  the  plough  in  the 
hands  of  the  owners,  and  not  mere  hirelings.^  And 
thus  indeed  you  shall  attain  to  Virgil's  character  which 
he  gives  to  ancient  Italy : 

Terra  potens  armis  atque  ubere  glebae : 

[A  land  powerful  in  arms  and  in  productiveness  of 
soil.]  Neither  is  that  state  (which,  for  any  thing  I 
know,  is  almost  peculiar  to  England,  and  hardly  to  be 
found  any  where  else,  except  it  be  perhaps  in  Poland) 
to  be  passed  over ;  I  mean  the  state  of  free  servants 
and  attendants  upon  noblemen  and  gentlemen ;  which 
are  no  ways  inferior  unto  the  yeomanry  for  arms.^ 
And  therefore  out  of  all  question,  the  splendour  and 
magnificence  and  great  retinues  and  hospitality  of 
noblemen  and  gentlemen,  received  into  custom,  doth 
much  conduce  unto  martial  greatness.     Whereas,  con- 

1  quce  haheant  cerium,  eumque  mediocrem,  agri  modum  annexum,  qui  dis- 
trahi  rum  possit ;  eo  fine  ut  ad  victum  liberiorem  sufficiat ;  atque  agricuUiera 
ab  Us  exerceretur,  qui  domini  fuerint  fwndi,  aut  saltern  usu-fructu/irii,  rum 
conductitii  aut  mercenarii. 

2  hujus  enim  generis  etiam  inferiores,  quoad  peditatum,  agricolis  ipsis  min- 
ime  cedunt 


OF  KINGDOMS  AND  ESTATES.  181 

trariwise,  the  close  and  reserved  living  of  noblemen 
and  gentlemen  causeth  a  penury  of  military  forces. 

By  all  means  it  is  to  be  procured,  that  the  trunk  of 
Nebuchadnezzar's  tree  of  monarchy  be  great  enough  to 
bear  the  branches  and  the  boughs  ;  that  is,  that  the 
natural  subjects  of  the  crown  or  state  bear  a  sufficient 
proportion  to  the  stranger  subjects  that  they  govern.^ 
Therefore  all  states  that  are  liberal  of  naturalization 
towards  strangers  are  fit  for  empire.^  For  to  think 
that  an  handful  of  people  can,  with  the  greatest  cour- 
age and  policy  in  the  world,  embrace  too  large  extent 
of  dominion,  it  may  hold  for  a  time,  but  it  will  fail  sud- 
denly.^ The  Spartans  were  a  nice  people  in  point  of 
naturalization  ;  *  whereby,  while  they  kept  their  com- 
pass, they  stood  firm ;  but  when  they  did  spread,  and 
their  boughs  were  becomen  too  great  for  their  stem,^ 
they  became  a  windfall  upon  the  sudden.  Never  any 
state  was  in  this  point  so  open  to  receive  strangers  into 
their  body  as  were  the  Romans.  Therefore  it  sorted 
with  them  accordingly ;  for  they  grew  to  the  greatest 
monarchy.  Their  manner  was  to  grant  naturalisation 
(which  they  called  jus  civitatis)^  and  to  grant  it  in  the 
highest  degree  ;  that  is,  not  only  jus  commercii,  jus  con- 
nubii,  jus  hcereditatis  ;  but  also  jus  suffragii^  and  jus 
Twnorum.^  And  this  not  to  singular  persons  alone,  but 
likewise  to  whole  famihes ;  yea  to  cities,  and  sometimes 
to  nations.     Add  to  this  their  custom  of  plantation  of 

1  ad  stihditos  extraneos  cohibendos  satis  superque  mffidat. 

2  ad  imperii  magnitudinem  bene  comparati  sunt. 
8  diuturnitatem  hcec  res  non  assequitur. 

4  parci  et  difficiles  in  cooptandis  novis  civibus. 

6  et  latius  dominari  quam  ut  stirps  Spartanorum  turbam  exterorum  imperio 
commode  coercere  posset. 
^  jus  petitionis  sive  honorum. 


182  OF  THE  TRUE  GREATNESS 

colonies  ;  whereby  the  Roman  plant  was  removed  into 
the  soil  of  other  nations.  And  putting  both  constitu- 
tions together,  you  will  say  that  it  was  not  the  Romans 
that  spread  upon  the  world,  but  it  was  the  world  that 
spread  upon  the  Romans ;  and  that  was  the  sure  way 
of  greatness.  1  have  marvelled  sometimes  at  Spain, 
how  they  clasp  and  contain  so  large  dominions  with  so 
few  natural  Spaniards ;  but  sure  the  whole  compass  of 
Spain  is  a  very  great  body  of  a  tree  ;  far  above  Rome 
and  Sparta  at  the  first.  And  besides,  though  they 
have  not  had  that  usage  to  naturalise  liberally,  yet 
they  have  that  which  is  next  to  it ;  that  is,  to  employ 
almost  indifferently  all  nations  in  their  militia  of  ordi- 
nary soldiers ;  yea  and  sometimes  in  their  highest 
commands.^  Nay  it  seemeth  at  this  instant  they  are 
sensible  of  this  want  of  natives ;  as  by  the  Pragmat- 
ical Sanction,  now  published,^  appeareth. 

It  is  certain,  that  sedentary  and  within-door  arts, 
and  delicate  manufactures  (that  require  rather  the  fin- 
ger than  the  arm),  have  in  their  nature  a  contrariety 
to  a  military  disposition.  And  generally,  all  warlike 
people  are  a  little  idle,  and  love  danger  better  than 
travail.  Neither  must  they  be  too  much  broken  of  it, 
if  they  shall  be  preserved  in  vigour.  Therefore  it  was 
great  advantage  in  the  ancient  states  of  Sparta,  Ath- 
ens, Rome,  and  others,  that  they  had  the  use  of  slaves, 
which   commonly  did  rid  those  manufactures.^      But 

1  quinetiam  summum  belli  imperium  haud  raro  ad  duces  natione  non  His- 
panos  deferunt. 

2  hoc  anno  promulgata.  A  royal  decree,  or  pragmdtica,  was  published  in 
the  summer  of  1622,  which  gave  certain  privileges  to  persons  who  married, 
and  further  immunities  to  those  who  had  six  children.  See  Mr.  Ellis's  note, 
Vol.  I.  p.  798. 

8  qtiorum  laboriims  istiusmodi  officia  expediebantw. 


OF  KINGDOxMS  AND  ESTATES. 


183 


that  is  abolished,  in  greatest  part,  by  the  Christian 
law.  That  which  cometh  nearest  to  it,  is  to  leave 
those  arts  chiefly  to  strangers  (which  for  that  purpose 
are  the  more  easily  to  be  received),  and  to  contain  the 
principal  bulk  of  the  vulgar  natives  within  those  three 
kinds,  —  tillers  of  the  ground  ;  free  servants  ;  and 
handicraftsmen  of  strong  and  manly  arts,  as  smiths, 
masons,  carpenters,  &c.  :  not  reckoning  professed  sol- 
diers. 

But  above  all,  for  empire  and  greatness,  it  importeth 
most,  that  a  nation  do  profess  arms  as  their  principal 
honour,  study,  and  occupation.  For  the  things  which 
we  formerly  have  spoken  of  are  but  habilitations  tow- 
ards arms ;  and  what  is  habilitation  without  intention 
and  act  ?  ^  Romulus,  after  his  death  (as  they  report 
or  feign),  sent  a  present  to  the  Romans,  that  above  all 
they  should  intend  arms  ;  and  then  they  should  prove 
the  greatest  empire  of  the  world.  The  fabric  of  the 
state  of  Sparta  was  wholly  (though  not  wisely)  framed 
and  composed  to  that  scope  and  end.^  The  Persians 
and  Macedonians  had  it  for  a  flash.  The  Gauls,  Ger- 
mans, Goths,  Saxons,  Normans,  and  others,  had  it  for 
a  time.  The  Turks  have  it  at  this  day,  though  in 
great  declination.^  Of  Christian  Europe,  they  that 
have  it  are,  in  eifect,  only  the  Spaniards.  But  it  is  so 
plain  that  every  man  projiteth  in  that  he  most  intendeth, 
that  it  needeth  not  to  be  stood  upon.     It  is  enough  to 

1  Quorsum  autem  habilitas,  si  non  rei  ipsi  incumbitur  ut  producatur  in 
actum  ? 

2  ut  cives  mi  helligeratores  essent. 

3  Persartim  et  Macedonum  idem  erat  insiitutum,  sed  non  tarn  constans  aut 
diuturnum.  Britanni,  Galli,  Germani^  Goti,  Saxones,  Normanni,  et  nonnuUi 
alii  etiam  ad  tempus  armis  se  prcecipue  dediderunt.  Turcce  idem  institutmn, 
lege  sudpaululum  extimulati,  hodie  retinent,  sed  m,agna  cum  militlce  {ut  nunc 
est)  decUnatione, 


184  OF  THE  TRUE  GREATNESS 

point  at  it ;  that  no  nation  which  doth  not  directly  pro- 
fess arms,^  may  look  to  have  greatness  fall  into  their 
mouths.  And  on  the  other  side,  it  is  a  most  certain 
oracle  of  time,  that  those  states  that  continue  long  in 
that  profession  (as  the  Romans  and  Turks  principally 
have  done)  do  wonders.^  And  those  that  have  pro- 
fessed arms  hut  for  an  age,  have  notwithstanding 
commonly  attained  that  greatness  in  that  age  which 
maintained  them  long  after,  when  their  profession  and 
exercise  of  arms  hath  grown  to  decay. 

Incident^  to  this  point  is,  for  a  state  to  have  those 
laws  or  customs  which  may  reach  forth  unto  them  just 
occasions  (as  may  be  pretended)  *  of  war.  For  there 
is  that  justice  imprinted  in  the  nature  of  men,  that  they 
enter  not  upon  wars  (whereof  so  many  calamities  do 
ensue)  but  upon  some,  at  the  least  specious,  grounds 
and  quarrels.  The  Turk  hath  at  hand,  for  cause  of 
war,  the  propagation  of  his  law  or  sect ;  a  quarrel  that 
he  may  always  command.  The  Romans,  though  they 
esteemed  the  extending  the  limits  of  their  empire  to  be 
great  honour  to  their  generals  when  it  was  done,  yet 
they  never  rested  upon  that  alone  to  begin  a  war.  First 
therefore,  let  nations  that  pretend  to  greatness  have 
this  ;  that  they  be  sensible  of  wrongs,  either  upon  bor- 
derers, merchants,  or  politic  ministers  ;  and  that  they 
sit  not  too  long  upon  a  provocation.  Secondly,  let 
them  be  prest  ^  and  ready  to  give  aids  and  succours  to 
their  confederates  ;  as  it  ever  was  with  the  Romans  ; 
insomuch,  as  if  the  confederates  had  leagues  defensive 

1  iisque  prcecipue  studeai  et  incumbat. 

2  miros  in  imperio  amplificaTido /acere  progressus. 
8  affine. 

4  aut  saltern  prcetextus. 
'^  prompta  sit. 


OF  KINGDOMS  AND  ESTATES. 


185 


with  divers  other  states,  and,  upon  invasion  offered,  did 
implore  their  aids  severally,^  yet  the  Romans  would 
ever  be  the  foremost,  and  leave  it  to  none  other  to  have 
the  honour.  As  for  the  wars  which  were  anciently 
made  on  the  behalf  of  a  kind  of  party,  or  tacit  con- 
formity of  estate,^  I  do  not  see  how  they  may  be  well 
justified :  as  when  the  Romans  made  a  war  for  the 
liberty  of  Graecia ;  or  when  the  Lacedaemonians  and 
Athenians  made  wars  to  set  up  or  pull  down  democ- 
racies and  oligarchies  ;  or  when  wars  were  made  by 
foreigners,  under  the  pretence  of  justice  or  protection, 
to  dehver  the  subjects  of  others  from  tyranny  and 
oppression  ;  and  the  like.  Let  it  suffice,  that  no  estate 
expect  to  be  great,  that  is  not  awake  upon  any  just 
occasion  of  arming. 

No  body  can  be  healthful  without  exercise,  neither 
natural  body  nor  politic ;  and  certainly  to  a  kingdom 
or  estate,  a  just  and  honourable  war  is  the  true  exer- 
cise. A  civil  war  indeed  is  like  the  heat  of  a  fever ; 
but  a  foreign  war  is  like  the  heat  of  exercise,  and  serv- 
eth  to  keep  the  body  in  health  ;  for  in  a  slothful  peace, 
both  courages  will  effeminate  and  manners  corrupt. 
But  howsoever  it  be  for  happiness,  without  all  ques- 
tion, for  greatness  it  maketh,  to  be  still  for  the  most 
part  in  arms  ;  and  the  strength  of  a  veteran  army 
(though  it  be  a  chargeable  business)  always  on  foot,  is 
that  which  commonly  giveth  the  law,  or  at  least  the 
reputation,  amongst  all  neighbour  states ;  ^  as  may  well 
be  seen  in  Spain,  which  hath  had,  in  one  part  or  other, 

1  si  forte  in  populum  fosderatum,  cui  eiiam  cum  aliisfcedus  defensivum  inteV' 
cederet,  hostilis  impressio  facta  esset,  atque  ille  aplurimis  suppetias  peteret. 

^propter  statuum  confarmitatem  quandam  aut  correspondentiam  tacitam. 

8  ut  statui  alicui  quasi  arhitrium  rei'um  inter  mcinos,  aut  saltern  plurimum 
existimationis  ad  omnia  conferat. 


186 


OF  THE  TRUE   GREATNESS 


a  veteran  army  almost  continually,  now  by  the  space 
of  six  score  years. 

To  be  master  of  the  sea  is  an  abridgment  of  a  mon- 
archy. Cicero,  writing  to  Atticus  of  Pompey  his  prep- 
aration against  Caesar,  saith.  Consilium  Pompeii  plane 
Themistocleum  est;  putat  enim,  qui  mari  potitur,  eurn 
rerum  potiri ;  [Pompey  is  going  upon  the  policy  of 
Themistocles  ;  thinking  that  he  who  commands  the 
sea  commands  all.]  And,  without  doubt,  Pompey  had 
tired  out  Caesar,  if  upon  vain  confidence  he  had  not 
left  that  way.  We  see  the  great  effects  of  battles  by 
sea.  The  battle  of  Actium  decided  the  empire  of  the 
world.  The  battle  of  Lepanto  arrested  the  greatness 
of  the  Turk.  There  be  many  examples  where  sea- 
fights  have  been  final  to  the  war  ;  but  this  is  when 
princes  or  states  have  set  up  their  rest  upon  the  battles. 
But  thus  much  is  certain,  that  he  that  commands  the 
sea  is  at  great  liberty,  and  may  take  as  much  and  as 
little  of  the  war  as  he  will.  Whereas  those  that  be 
strongest  by  land  are  many  times  nevertheless  in  great 
straits.  Surely,  at  this  day,  with  us  of  Europe,  the 
vantage  of  strength  at  sea  (which  is  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal dowries  of  this  kingdom  of  Great  Britain)  is 
great ;  ^  both  because  most  of  the  kingdoms  of  Europe 
are  not  merely  inland,  but  girt  with  the  sea  most  part 
of  their  compass  ;  and  because  the  wealth  of  both  In- 
dies seems  in  great  part  but  an  accessary  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  seas. 

The  wars  of  latter  ages  seem  to  be  made  in  the  dark, 
in  respect  of  the  glory  and  honour  which  reflected 
upon  men  fi:'om  the  wars  in  ancient  time.     There  be 


1  At  hodie  atque  apud  nos  Europmos,  si  unquam  aut  uspiam,  potentia  nava- 
lis summi  ad  rerum  fastigia  momenti  est. 


OF  KINGDOMS  AND  ESTATES.  187 

now,  for  martial  encouragement,  some  degrees  and 
orders  of  chivalry;  which  nevertheless  are  conferred 
promiscuously  upon  soldiers  and  no  soldiers ;  and  some 
remembrance  perhaps  upon  the  scutcheon  ;  and  some 
hospitals  for  maimed  soldiers  ;  and  such  like  things. 
But  in  ancient  times,  the  trophies  erected  upon  the 
place  of  the  victory ;  the  funeral  laudatives  and  monu- 
ments for  those  that  died  in  the  wars ;  the  crowns  and 
garlands  personal ;  ^  the  style  of  Emperor,  which  the 
great  kings  of  the  world  after  borrowed  ;  the  triumphs 
of  the  generals  upon  their  return ;  the  great  donatives 
and  largesses  upon  the  disbanding  of  the  armies  ;  were 
things  able  to  inflame  all  men's  courages.^  But  above 
all,  that  of  the  Triumph,  amongst  the  Romans,  was 
not  pageants  or  gaudery,  but  one  of  the  wisest  and 
noblest  institutions  that  ever  was.  For  it  contained 
three  things :  honour  to  the  general ;  riches  to  the 
treasury  out  of  the  spoils  ;  and  donatives  to  the  army. 
But  that  honour  perhaps  were  not  fit  for  monarchies ; 
except  it  be  in  the  person  of  the  monarch  himself,  or 
his  sons ;  as  it  came  to  pass  in  the  times  of  the  Roman 
emperors,  who  did  impropriate  the  actual  triumphs  to 
themselves  and  their  sons,  for  such  wars  as  they  did 
achieve  in  person  ;  and  left  only,  for  wars  achieved  by 
subjects,  some  triumphal  garments  and  ensigns  to  the 
general. 

To  conclude :  no  man  can  by  care  taking  (as  the 
Scripture  saith)  add  a  cubit  to  his  stature^  in  this  little 
model  of  a  man's  body  ;  but  in  the  great  frame  of 
kingdoms  and  commonwealths,  it   is  in  the  power  of 

1  Coronce  civias,  militare$,  singulis  concessce. 

■2  HcBC  {inquam)  tot  et  tanta  fuerunt,  et  tarn  insigni  splendore  coruscantia,  ut 
pectori/ms  mortalium  etiam  maxime  conglaciatis  igniculos  svbdere,  eaque  ad 
bellum  inflammare  potuerint. 


188 


OF  REGIMENT  OF  HEALTH. 


princes  or  estates  to  add  amplitude  and  greatness 
their  kingdoms  ;  for  by  introducing  such  ordinances, 
constitutions,  and  customs,  as  we  have  now  touched, 
they  may  sow  greatness  to  their  posterity  and  succes- 
sion. But  these  things  are  commonly  not  observed, 
but  left  to  take  their  chance. 


XXX.    Of  Regiment  of  Health. 

There  is  a  wisdom  in  this  beyond  the  rules  of  phy- 
sic :  a  man's  own  observation,  what  he  finds  good  of, 
and  what  he  finds  hurt  of,  is  the  best  physic  to  pre- 
serve health.  But  it  is  a  safer  conclusion  to  say,  This 
agreeth  not  well  with  me,  therefore  I  will  not  continue  it; 
than  this,  I  find  no  offence  of  this,  therefore  I  may  use 
it.  For  strength  of  nature  in  youth  passeth  over 
many  excesses,  which  are  owing  a  man  till  his  age. 
Discern  of  the  coming  on  of  years,  and  think  not  to  do 
the  same  things  still ;  for  age  will  not  be  defied.  Be- 
ware of  sudden  change  in  any  great  point  of  diet,  and 
if  necessity  inforce  it,  fit  the  rest  to  it.  For  it  is  a 
secret  both  in  nature  and  state,  that  it  is  safer  to 
change  many  things  than  one.^  Examine  thy  customs 
of  diet,  sleep,  exercise,  apparel, ^  and  the  like ;  and  try, 
in  any  thing  thou  shalt  judge  hurtful,  to  discontinue  it 
by  little  and  little  ;  but  so,  as  if  thou  dost  find  any  in- 
convenience by  the  change,  thou  come  back  to  it  again  : 
for  it  is  hard  to  distinguish  that  which  is  generally  held 
good  and  wholesome,^  from  that  which  is  good  particu- 


1  quam  unum  magnum. 

2  The  translation  adds  mansionis. 
8  quce  toto  genere  sunt  salvbria. 


OF  REGIMENT  OF  HEALTH.  189 

larly,  and  fit  for  thine  own  body.  To  be  free-minded 
and  cheerfully  disposed  at  hours  of  meat  and  of  sleep 
and  of  exercise,  is  one  of  the  best  precepts  of  long 
lasting.  As  for  the  passions  and  studies  of  the  mind  ; 
avoid  envy  ;  anxious  fears ;  anger  fi-etting  inwards  ;  ^ 
subtle  and  knotty  inquisitions  ;  joys  and  exhilarations 
in  excess  ;  sadness  not  communicated.  Entertain 
hopes  ;  mirth  rather  than  joy  ;  variety  of  delights, 
rather  than  surfeit  of  them  ;  wonder  and  admiration, 
and  therefore  novelties  ;  studies  that  fill  the  mind  with 
splendid  and  illustrious  objects,  as  histories,  fables,  and 
contemplations  of  nature.  If  you  fly  physic  in  health 
altogether,  it  will  be  too  strange  for  your  body  when 
you  shall  need  it.  If  you  make  it  too  familiar,  it  will 
work  no  extraordinary  effect  when  sickness  cometh.  I 
commend  rather  some  diet  for  certain  seasons,  than 
frequent  use  of  physic,  except  it  be  grown  into  a  cus- 
tom. For  those  diets  alter  the  body  more,  and  trouble 
it  less.  Despise  no  new  accident  in  your  body,  but 
ask  opinion  2  of  it.  In  sickness,  respect  health  prin- 
cipally ;  and  in  health,  action. ^  For  those  that  put 
their  bodies  to  endure  in  health,  may  in  most  sicknesses, 
which  are  not  very  sharp,  be  cured  only  with  diet  and 
tendering.  Celsus  could  never  have  spoken  it  as  a 
physician,  had  he  not  been  a  wise  man  withal,  when  he 
giveth  it  for  one  of  the  great  precepts  of  health  and 
lasting,  that  a  man  do  vary  and  interchange  contraries, 
but  with  an  inclination  to  the  more  benign  extreme : 
use  fasting  and  full  eating,  but  rather  full  eating; 
watching  and  sleep,  but  ra,tV.^x   sleep  ;  sitting  and  exer- 

1  iram  intus  cohibitam. 

2  consilium  medicorum. 

8  corpore  ttto  utere,  nee  sis  nimis  deUcatus* 


190 


OF  SUSPICION. 


cise,  but  rather  exercise ;  and  the  like.  So  shall  nature 
be  cherished,  and  yet  taught  masteries.^  Physicians 
are  some  of  them  so  pleasing  and  conformable  to  the 
humour  of  the  patient,  as  they  press  not  the  true  cure 
of  the  disease  ;  and  some  other  are  so  regular  in  pro- 
ceeding according  to  art  for  the  disease,  as  they  respect 
not  sufficiently  the  condition  of  the  patient.  Take  one 
of  a  middle  temper  ;  or  if  it  may  not  be  found  in  one 
man,  combine  two  of  either  sort ;  and  forget  not  to 
call  as  well  the  best  acquainted  with  your  body,  as  the 
best  reputed  of  for  his  faculty. 


XXXI.    Of  Suspicion. 

Suspicions  amongst  thoughts  are  like  bats  amongst 
birds,  they  ever  fly  by  twilight.  Certainly  they  are  to 
be  repressed,  or  at  the  least  well  guarded  :  for  they 
cloud  the  mind  ;  they  leese  friends  ;  and  they  check 
with  business,  whereby  business  cannot  go  on  currently 
and  constantly.  They  dispose  kings  to  tyranny,  hus- 
bands to  jealousy,  wise  men  to  irresolution  and  melan- 
choly. They  are  defects,  not  in  the  heart,  but  in  the 
brain ;  for  they  take  place  in  the  stoutest  natures  ;  as 
in  the  example  of  Henry  the  Seventh  of  England, 
There  was  not  a  more  suspicious  man,  nor  a  more 
stout.  And  in  such  a  composition  they  do  small  hurt. 
For  commonly  they  are  not  admitted,  but  with  exami- 
nation, whether  they  be  likely  or  no  ?  But  in  fearful 
natures  they  gain  ground  too  fast.  There  is  nothing 
makes  a  man  suspect  much,  more  than  to  know  little ; 
and  therefore  men  should  remedy  suspicion  by  procur- 

1  robur  acquiret 


OF  DISCOURSE.  191 

ing  to  know  more,  and  not  to  keep  their  suspicions  in 
smother.'  What  would  men  have?  Do  they  think 
those  they  employ  and  deal  with  are  saints  ?  Do  they 
not  think  they  will  have  their  own  ends,  and  be  truer 
to  themselves  than  to  them  ?  Therefore  there  is  no 
better  way  to  moderate  suspicions,  than  to  account 
upon  such  suspicions  as  true  and  yet  to  bridle  them  as 
false.'^  For  so  far  a  man  ought  to  make  use  of  suspi- 
cions, as  to  provide,  as  if  that  should  be  true  that  he 
suspects,  yet  it  may  do  him  no  hurt.  Suspicions  that 
the  mind  of  itself  gathers  are  but  buzzes  ;  but  suspi- 
cions that  are  artificially  nourished,  and  put  into  men's 
heads  by  the  tales  and  whisperings  of  others,  have 
stings.  Certainly,  the  best  mean  to  clear  the  way  in 
this  same  wood  of  suspicions,  is  frankly  to  communi- 
cate them  with  the  party  that  he  suspects  ;  for  thereby 
he  shall  be  sure  to  know  more  of  the  truth  of  them 
than  he  did  before  ;  and  withal  shall  make  that  party 
more  circumspect  not  to  give  further  cause  of  suspicion. 
But  this  would  not  be  done  to  men  of  base  natures  ; 
for  they,  if  they  find  themselves  once  suspected,  will 
never  be  true.  The  Italian  says,  Sospetto  licentia  fede  ; 
as  if  suspicion  did  give  a  passport  to  faith ;  but  it  ought 
rather  to  kindle  it  to  discharge  itself. 


XXXII.    Of  Discourse. 

Some  in  their  discourse  desire  rather  commendation 
of  wit,  in  being  able  to  hold  all  arguments,  than  of 

1  ut  quis  inquisitionem  urgeat.     Fumo  enim  ei  tenebris  aluntur  suspiciones. 

2  remedia  parare  ac  si  suspiciones  essent  verce ;  its  verofrcena  injicere,  ac 
si  essent  fnlsce. 


192  OF  DISCOURSE. 

judgment,  in  discerning  what  is  true  ;  as  if  it  were  a 
praise  to  know  what  might  be  said,  and  not  what 
should  be  thought.  Some  have  certain  common  places 
and  themes  wherein  they  are  good,  and  want  variety ;  ^ 
which  kind  of  poverty  is  for  the  most  part  tedious,  and 
when  it  is  once  perceived,  ridiculous.  The  honour- 
ablest  part  of  talk  is  to  give  the  occasion ;  and  again  to 
moderate  and  pass  to  somewhat  else ;  for  then  a  man 
leads  the  dance.  It  is  good,  in  discourse  and  speech  of 
conversation,  to  vary  and  intermingle  speech  of  the 
present  occasion  with  arguments,  tales  with  reasons, 
asking  of  questions  with  telling  of  opinions,  and  jest 
with  earnest :  for  it  is  a  dull  thing  to  tire,  and,  as  we 
say  now,  to  jade,  any  thing  too  far.^  As  for  jest, 
there  be  certain  things  which  ought  to  be  privileged 
from  it ;  namely,  religion,  matters  of  state,  great  per- 
sons, any  man's  present  business  of  importance,  and 
any  case  that  deserveth  pity.  Yet  there  be  some  that 
think  their  wits  have  been  asleep,  except  they  dart  out 
somewhat  that  is  piquant,  and  to  the  quick.  That  is  a 
vein  which  would  be  bridled ; 

Parce,  puer,  stimulis,  et  fortius  utere  loris. 

And  generally,  men  ought  to  find  the  diiference  be- 
tween saltness  and  bitterness.  Certainly,  he  that  hath 
a  satirical  vein,  as  he  maketh  others  afraid  of  his  wit, 
so  he  had  need  be  afraid  of  others'  memory.  He  that 
questioneth  much,  shall  learn  much,  and  content  much  ; 
but  especially  if  he  apply  his  questions  to  the  skill  of 
the  persons  whom  he  asketh ;  for  he  shall  give  them 
occasion  to  please  themselves  in  speaking,  and  himself 

1  ccetera  steriles  et  jejuni. 

2  satietatem  enim  etfastidium  parity  in  aliqw  svbjecto  diutius  hcerere. 


OF  DISCOURSE.  193 

shall  continually  gather  knowledge.  But  let  his  ques- 
tions not  be  troublesome  ;  for  that  is  fit  for  a  poser.^ 
And  let  him  be  sure  to  leave  other  men  their  turns  to 
speak.2  Nay,  if  there  be  any  that  would  reign  and 
take  up  all  the  time,  let  him  find  means  to  take  them 
off,  and  to  bring  others  on  ;  as  musicians  use  to  do 
with  those  that  dance  too  long  galliards.  If  you  dis- 
semble sometimes  your  knowledge  of  that  you  are 
thought  to  know,  you  shall  be  thought  another  time  to 
know  that  you  know  not.  Speech  of  a  man's  self 
ought  to  be  seldom,  and  well  chosen.  I  knew  one  was 
wont  to  say  in  scorn,  He  must  needs  he  a  wise  man^  he 
speaks  so  much  of  himself :  and  there  is  but  one  case 
wherein  a  man  may  commend  himself  with  good  grace  ; 
and  that  is  in  commending  virtue  in  another  ;  espe- 
cially if  it  be  such  a  virtue  whereunto  himself  pretend- 
eth.  Speech  of  touch  towards  others  ^  should  be  spar- 
ingly used ;  for  discourse  ought  to  be  as  a  field,  without 
coming  home  to  any  man.^  I  knew  two  noblemen,  of 
the  west  part  of  England,  whereof  the  one  was  given 
to  scoff,  but  kept  ever  royal  cheer  in  his  house ;  the 
other  would  ask  of  those  that  had  been  at  the  other's 
table.  Tell  truly^  was  there  never  a  flout  or  dry  blow 
given  ?  To  which  the  guest  would  answer.  Such  and 
such  a  thing  passed.  The  lord  would  say,  I  thought  he 
would  mar  a  good   dinner.^     Discretion   of  speech   is 

1  TTiat  is,  an  examiner.     Id  enim  examinatori  convenit. 

2  Etiam  qui  sermonis  familial^  dignitatem  tueri  cupit,  aliis  vices  loquendi 
relinqvMt. 

3  alios  pung ens  et  vellicans. 

4  instar  campi  aperti  in  quo  spatiari  licet^  non  vice  regies  qum  deducit  domum, 
(a  translation  in  which  it  seems  to  me  that  the  point  of  the  original  is 
partly  missed;  the  "  via  regia  "  introducing  an  idea  alien  to  the  sense,  as  I 
understand  it). 

5  at  ille,  utpote  alterius  cemulus,  satis  sciebam  eum  prandium  honum  malis 
condimentis  cormpturum. 

VOT^.    XTT.  13 


194 


OF  PLANTATIONS. 


more  than  eloquence  ;  and  to  speak  agreeably  to  hii 
with  whom  we  deal,  is  more  than  to  speak  in  good 
words  or  in  good  order.  A  good  continued  speech, 
without  a  good  speech  of  interlocution,  shews  slow- 
ness ;  and  a  good  reply  or  second  speech,  without  a 
good  settled  speech,  sheweth  shallowness  and  weakness. 
As  we  see  in  beasts,  that  those  that  are  weakest  in  the 
course,  are  yet  nimblest  in  the  turn ;  as  it  is  betwixt 
the  greyhound  and  the  hare.  To  use  too  many  cir- 
cumstances ere  one  come  to  the  matter,  is  wearisome ; 
to  use  none  at  all,  is  blunt. 


XXXIII.    Of  Plantations.^ 

Plantations  are  amongst  ancient,  primitive,  and 
heroical  works.^  When  the  world  was  young  it  begat 
more  children  ;  but  now  it  is  old  it  begets  fewer  :  for  I 
may  justly  account  new  plantations  to  be  the  children 
of  former  kingdoms.  I  like  a  plantation  in  a  pure  soil ; 
that  is,  where  people  are  not  displanted  to  the  end  to 
plant  in  others.  For  else  it  is  rather  an  extirpation 
than  a  plantation.  Planting  of  countries  is  like  plant- 
ing of  woods  ;  for  you  must  make  account  to  leese 
almost  twenty  years  profit,  and  expect  your  recom- 
pense in  the  end.^  For  the  principal  thing  that  hath 
been  the  destruction  of  most  plantations,  hath  been  the 
base  and  hasty  drawing  of  profit  in  the  first  years.  It 
is  true,  speedy  profit  is  not  to  be  neglected,  as  far  as 

1  De  Plantationibiis  populorum  et  coloniis.  This  Essay  seems  to  have  been 
carefully  translated;  and  revised  in  the  translation,  probably  by  Bacon 
himself. 

2  Cokmice  eminent  inter  antiqua  et  heroica  opera. 

3  verwm  fructus  vber  et  locuples  in  fine  operis  expectandus. 


OF  PLANTATIONS.  195 

may  stand  with  the  good  of  the  plantation,  but  no  fur- 
ther. It  is  a  shameful  and  unblessed  thing  to  take  the 
scum  of  people,  and  wicked  condemned  men,  to  be  the 
people  with  whom  you  plant ;  and  not  only  so,  but  it 
spoileth  the  plantation  ;  for  they  will  ever  live  like 
rogues,  and  not  fall  to  work,  but  be  lazy,  and  do  mis- 
chief, and  spend  victuals,  and  be  quickly  weary,  and 
then  certify  over  to  their  country  to  the  discredit  of  the 
plantation.  The  people  wherewith  you  plant  ought  to 
be  gardeners,  ploughmen,  labourers,  smiths,  carpenters, 
joiners,  fishermen,  fowlers,  with  some  few  apothecaries, 
surgeons,  cooks,  and  bakers.^  In  a  country  of  planta- 
tion,'^ first  look  about  what  kind  of  victual  ^  the  country 
yields  of  itself  to  hand;  as  chestnuts,  walnuts,  pine- 
apples, olives,  dates,  plums,  cherries,  wild  honey,  and 
the  like  ;  and  make  use  of  them.  Then  consider  what 
victual  or  esculent  things  there  are,  which  grow  speed- 
ily, and  within  the  year ;  as  parsnips,  carrots,  turnips, 
onions,  radish,*  artichokes  of  Hierusalem,  maize,  and 
the  hke.  For  wheat,^  barley,  and  oats,  they  ask  too 
much  labour  ;  but  with  pease  and  beans  you  may  be- 
gin, both  because  they  ask  less  labour,  and  because 
they  serve  for  meat  as  well  as  for  bread.  And  of  rice 
likewise  cometh  a  great  increase,  and  it  is  a  kind  of 
meat.  Above  all,  there  ought  to  be  brought  store  of 
biscuit,  oat-meal,  flour,  meal,  and  the  like,  in  the  begin- 
ning, till  bread  may  be  had.  For  beasts,  or  birds,  take 
chiefly  such  as  are  least  subject  to  diseases,  and  mul- 
tiply fastest ;    as    swine,   goats,   cocks,   hens,   turkeys, 

1  The  translation  adds,  cervisiarii,  et  hujusmodi. 

2  In  regione  vM  plantar e  instituis. 

3  quod  genus  esculentorum  et  poculentorum. 

4  The  translation  adds,  melones,  pepones,  cucvmeres. 
6  The  translation  adds,  siliquam. 


196 


OF  PLANTA1 


geese,  house-doves,^  and  the  Hke.  The  victual  in  plan- 
tations ought  to  be  expended  almost  as  in  a  besieged 
town  ;  that  is,  with  certain  allowance.  And  let  the 
main  part  of  the  ground  employed  to  gardens  or  corn, 
be  to  a  common  stock  ;  and  to  be  laid  in,  and  stored 
up,  and  then  delivered  out  in  proportion  ;  besides  some 
spots  of  ground  that  any  particular  person  will  manure 
for  his  own  private.  Consider  likewise  what  commodi- 
ties the  soil  w^here  the  plantation  is  doth  naturally  yield, 
that  they  may  some  way  help  to  defray  the  charge  of 
the  plantation,  (so  it  be  not,  as  was  said,  to  the  un- 
timely prejudice  of  the  main  business,)  as  it  hath  fared 
with  tobacco  in  Virginia.^  Wood  commonly  abound- 
eth  but  too  much  ;  ^  and  therefore  timber  is  fit  to  be 
one.  If  there  be  iron  ore,*  and  streams  whereupon  to 
set  the  mills,  iron  is  a  brave  commodity  where  wood 
aboundeth.  Making  of  bay-salt,^  if  the  climate  be 
proper  for  it,  would  be  put  in  experience.  Growing 
silk  likewise,  if  any  be,  is  a  likely  commodity.  Pitch 
and  tar,  where  store  of  firs  and  pines  are,  will  not  fail. 
So  drugs  and  sweet  woods,  where  they  are,  cannot 
but  yield  great  profit.  Soap-ashes  likewise,  and  other 
things  that  may  be  thought  of.  But  moil  not  too  much 
under  ground ;  for  the  hope  of  mines  is  very  uncertain, 
and  useth  to  make  the  planters  lazy  in  other  things.^ 


1  The  translation  adds,  rabbits :  cunicuU. 

2  ut  expoi'tatio  eo7mm  in  loca  vbi  maxime  in  pretio  sunt  sumptus  levet ;  ut 
muvenit  in  Nicotiano  apud  Jiirginiam ;  modo  non  sit,  &c.  I  have  inserted 
the  marks  of  parenthesis,  which  are  not  in  the  original ;  the  construction 
being  ambiguous  without  them. 

8  The  words  "but  too  much,"  are  omitted  in  the  translation. 

4  Spelt  ure  in  the  original ;  as  the  same  word  is  in  one  place  in  the  manu- 
script of  the  History  of  Henry  VII.     The  translation  has  vena  feri-i. 

5  Salis  nigri  confectioper  vigor  em  solis. 

«  verum  fodinis  ne  conjidas  nindum,  prcesertim  a  principio.    Fodince  enim 


OF  PLANTATIONS.  197 

For  government,  let  it  be  in  the  hands  of  one,  assisted 
with  some  counsel  ;  and  let  them  have  commission 
to  exercise  martial  laws,  with  some  limitation.  And 
above  all,  let  men  make  that  profit  of  being  in  the 
wilderness,  as  they  have  God  always,  and  his  service, 
before  their  eyes.  Let  not  the  government  of  the 
plantation  depend  upon  too  many  counsellors  and  un- 
dertakers in  the  country  that  planteth,  but  upon  a  tem- 
perate number  ;  ^  and  let  those  be  rather  noblemen  and 
gentlemen,  than  merchants ;  for  they  look  ever  to  the 
present  gain.  Let  there  be  freedoms  from  custom,  till 
the  plantation  be  of  strength  ;  and  not  only  freedom 
from  custom,  but  freedom  to  carry  their  commodities 
where  they  may  make  their  best  of  them,  except  there 
be  some  special  cause  of  caution.  Cram  not  in  people, 
by  sending  too  fast  company  after  company  ;  but  rather 
barken  how  they  waste,  and  send  supplies  proportion- 
ably  ;  but  so  as  the  number  may  live  well  in  the  plan- 
tation, and  not  by  surcharge  be  in  penury.  It  hath 
been  a  great  endangering  to  the  health  of  some  planta- 
tions, that  they  have  built  along  the  sea  and  rivers,  in 
marish  and  unwholesome  grounds.  Therefore,  though 
you  begin  there,  to  avoid  carriage  and  other  like  dis- 
commodities, yet  build  still  rather  upwards  from  the 
streams,  than  along.  It  concerneth  likewise  the  health 
of  the  plantation  that  they  have  good  store  of  salt  with 
them,  that  they  may  use  it  in  their  victuals,  when  it 
shall  be  necessary.^     If  you  plant  where  savages  are, 

fallaces  sunt  ei  sumptuosoe,  et  spe  pulchrA  lactantes,  colonos  reddunt  circa  alia 
socordes. 

1  Rursus,  Colonia  a  numerosiore  concilio  {vntelligo  in  regione  matre  colonize 
residente)  nonpendeat;  nee  oh  contnbutiones  exiguas  multitudini  nimice  svb- 
Jiciatur ;  sed  sit  numerus  eoi^um  qui  cohniam  procurant  et  ordinant  moderatus. 

2  quo  cibi,  quos  verisimile  estputridos  aliter  scepefuturos,  condiantur. 


198 


OF  RICHES. 


do  not  only  entertain  them  with  trifles  and  gingles  ; 
but  use  them  justly  and  graciously,  with  sufficient 
guard  nevertheless  ;  and  do  not  win  their  favour  by 
helping  them  to  invade  their  enemies,  but  for  their  de- 
fence it  is  not  amiss ;  and  send  oft  of  them  over  to  the 
country  that  plants,  that  they  may  see  a  better  con- 
dition than  their  own,  and  commend  it  when  they  re- 
turn. When  the  plantation  grows  to  strength,  then  it 
is  time  to  plant  with  women  as  well  as  with  men ;  that 
the  plantation  may  spread  into  generations,^  and  not  be 
ever  pieced  from  without.  It  is  the  sinfuUest  thing  in 
the  world  to  forsake  or  destitute  a  plantation  once  in 
forwardness  ;  for  besides  the  dishonour,  it  is  the  guilti- 
ness of  blood  of  many  commiserable  persons.^ 


XXXIV.    Or  Riches. 

I  CANNOT  call  Riches  better  than  the  baggage  of 
virtue.  The  Roman  word  is  better,  impedimenta. 
For  as  the  baggage  is  to  an  army,  so  is  riches  to  y'iy- 
tue.  It  cannot  be  spared  nor  left  behind,  but  it  hin- 
dereth  the  march ;  ^  yea  and  the  care  of  it  sometimes 
loseth  or  disturbeth  the  victory.  Of  great  riches  there 
is  no  real  use,  except  it  be  in  the  distribution ;  the  rest 
is  but  conceit.  So  saith  Salomon,  Where  much  is,  there 
are  many  to  consume  it;  and  what  hath  the  owner  hut 
the  sight  of  it  with  his  eyes  f  The  personal  fruition  in 
any  man  cannot  reach  to  feel  great  riches :  *  there  is 

1  ex  sese  prqpagetur. 

2  nil  alivd  est  quam  proditio  mera,  profusioque  sanguinis  compluinum  homi- 
num  miserorum. 

3  necessarice  siquidem  sunt,  sed  graves. 

^Possessio  divitiarum  nulla  voluptate  dominumperfundit,  quantum  adsensum. 


OF  RICHES.  199 

a  custody  of  them ;  or  a  power  of  dole  and  donative 
of  them ;  or  a  fame  of  them  ;  but  no  solid  use  to  the 
owner.  Do  you  not  see  what  feigned  prices  are  set 
upon  little  stones  and  rarities  ?  and  what  works  of 
ostentation  are  undertaken,  because  there  might  seem 
to  be  some  use  of  great  riches  ?  But  then  you  will 
say,  they  may  be  of  use  to  buy  men  out  of  dangers 
or  troubles.  As  Salomon  saith,  Riches  are  as  a  strong 
hold,  in  the  imagination  of  the  rich  man.  But  this  is 
excellently  expressed,^  that  it  is  in  imagination,  and 
not  always  in  fact.  For  certainly  great  riches  have 
sold  more  men  than  they  have  bought  out.  Seek 
not  proud  riches,  but  such  as  thou  mayest  get  justly, 
use  soberly,  distribute  cheerfully,  and  leave  content- 
edly. Yet  have  no  abstract  nor  friarly^  contempt  of 
them.  But  distinguish,  as  Cicero  saith  well  of  Rabirius 
Posthumus,  In  studio  rd  amplijieandce  apparebat,  non 
avaritice  prcedam,  sed  instrumentum  honitati  quoeri ;  [In 
seeking  to  increase  his  estate  it  was  apparent  that  he 
sought  not  a  prey  for  avarice  to  feed  on,  but  an  instru- 
ment for  goodness  to  work  with.]  Hearken  also  to 
Salomon,  and  beware  of  hasty  gathering  of  riches  ; 
Qui  festinat  ad  divitias,  non  erit  ijisons :  [He  that 
maketh  haste  to  be  rich  shall  not  be  innocent.]  The 
poets  feign,  that  when  Plutus  (which  is  Riches)  is  sent 
from  Jupiter,  he  limps  and  goes  slowly ;  but  when  he 
is  sent  from  Pluto,  he  runs  and  is  swift  of  foot.  Mean- 
ing that  riches  gotten  by  good  means  and  just  labour 
pace  slowly ;  but  when  they  come  by  the  death  of 
others  (as  by  the  course  of  inheritance,  testaments, 
and  the  hke),  they  come  tumbling  upon  a  man.      But 

1  sed  caute  Salomon. 

2  instar  monachi  alicujus  aut  a  sceculo  abstracti. 


OF  RICHl 


it  mought  be  applied  likewise  to  Pluto,  taking  him  for 
the  devil.  For  when  riches  come  from  the  devil  (as 
by  fraud  and  oppression  and  unjust  means),  they  come 
upon  speed.  The  ways  to  enrich  are  many,  and  most 
of  them  foul.  Parsimony  is  one  of  the  best,  and  yet 
is  not  innocent ;  for  it  withholdeth  men  from  works 
of  liberality  and  charity.  The  improvement  of  the 
ground  is  the  most  natural  obtaining  of  riches ;  for  it 
is  our  great  mother's  blessing,  the  earth's  ;  but  it  is 
slow.  And  yet  where  men  of  great  wealth  do  stoop  to 
husbandry,  it  multiplieth  riches  exceedingly.  I  knew 
a  nobleman  in  England,  that  had  the  greatest  audits  of 
any  man  in  my  time ;  a  great  grazier,  a  great  sheep- 
master,  a  great  timber  man,^  a  great  collier,  a  great 
corn-master,  a  great  lead-man,  and  so  of  iron,  and  a 
number  of  the  like  points  of  husbandry.  So  as  the 
earth  seemed  a  sea  to  him,  in  respect  of  the  perpetual 
importation.  It  was  tnily  observed  by  one,  that  him- 
self came  very  hardly  to  a  little  riches,  and  very  easily 
to  great  riches.  For  when  a  man's  stock  is  come  to 
that,  that  he  can  expect  the  prime  of  markets,  and 
overcome  those  bargains  which  for  their  greatness  are 
few  men's  money,  and  be  partner  in  the  industries  of 
younger  men,^  he  cannot  but  increase  mainly.  The 
gains  of  ordinary  trades  and  vocations  are  honest ;  and 
furthered  by  two  things  chiefly :  by  diligence,  and  by  a 
good  name  for  good  and  fair  dealing.  But  the  gains 
of  bargains  ^  are  of  a  more  doubtful  nature  ;  when 
men  shall  wait  upon  others'  necessity,  broke  by  ser- 
vants and  instruments  to  draw  them  on,*  put  off  others 

1  dives  sylvis  tam  cceduis  quam  grandioribm. 

2  etiam  in  laboi'ibus  aliorum  participare  qui  minus  pecunid  abundant. 
8  lucra  ex  contractibiis  mnjoribus. 

4  servos  et  ministros  alienos  in  damnum  dominorum  corrumpat. 


OF  RICHES.  201 

cunningly  that  would  be  better  chapmen,  and  the  like 
practices,  which  are  crafty  and  naught.^  As  for  the 
chopping  of  bargains,  when  a  man  buys  not  to  hold 
but  to  sell  over  again,  that  commonly  grindeth  double, 
both  upon  the  seller  and  upon  the  buyer.  Sharings 
do  greatly  enrich,  if  the  hands  be  well  chosen  that 
are  trusted.  Usury  is  the  certainest  means  of  gain, 
though  one  of  the  worst ;  as  that  whereby  a  man  doth 
eat  his  bread  in  sudor e  vultm  alieni ;  [in  the  sweat  of 
another  man's  face;]  and  besides,  doth  plough  upon 
Sundays.  But  yet  certain  though  it  be,  it  hath  flaws  ; 
for  that  the  scriveners  and  brokers  do  value  unsound 
men  ^  to  serve  their  own  turn.  The  fortune  in  being 
the  first  in  an  invention  or  in  a  privilege,  doth  cause 
sometimes  a  wonderful  overgrowth  in  riches ;  as  it  was 
with  the  first  sugar  man  in  the  Canaries.  Therefore 
if  a  man  can  play  the  true  logician,  to  have  as  well 
judgment  as  invention,  he  may  do  great  matters ; 
especially  if  the  times  be  fit.  He  that  resteth  upon 
gains  certain,  shall  hardly  grow  to  great  riches ;  and 
he  that  puts  all  upon  adventures,  doth  oftentimes  break 
and  come  to  poverty :  ^  it  is  good  therefore  to  guard 
adventures  with  certainties,  that  may  uphold  losses. 
Monopolies,  and  coemption  of  wares  for  re-sale,  where 
they  are  not  restrained,  are  great  means  to  enrich ; 
especially  if  the  party  have  intelligence  what  things 
are  like  to  come  into  request,  and  so  store  himself 
beforehand.  Riches  gotten  by  service,  though  it  be 
of  the  best  rise,*  yet  when  they  are  gotten  by  flattery, 

1  qiwi  omnes  merito  damnandce  sunt. 

2  homines  Jbrtunarum  dvbiarum  quandoque  extollent. 
8  vix  foi'tunarum  dispendia  vitabit. 

•*  Opum  acquisitio  per  servitium  regum  aut  magnatum  dignitatem  dliquam 
habet. 


202  OF  RICHES. 

feeding  humours,  and  other  servile  conditions,  they 
may  be  placed  amongst  the  worst.  As  for  fishing  for 
testaments  and  executorships  (as  Tacitus  saith  of  Sen- 
eca, testamenta  et  orbos  tamquam  indagine  capi^)  it 
is  yet  worse  ;  by  how  much  men  submit  themselves 
to  meaner  persons  than  in  service.  Believe  not  much 
them  that  seem  to  despise  riches  ;  for  they  despise 
them  that  despair  of  them  ;  and  none  worse  when 
they  come  to  them,^  Be  not  penny- wise  ;  riches  have 
wings,  and  sometimes  they  fly  away  of  themselves, 
sometimes  they  must  be  set  flying  to  bring  in  more. 
Men  leave  their  riches  either  to  their  kindred,  or  to 
the  public ;  '^  and  moderate  portions  prosper  best  in 
both.  A  great  state  left  to  an  heir,  is  as  a  lure  to  all 
the  birds  of  prey  round  about  to  seize  on  him,  if  he 
be  not  the  better  stablished  in  years  and  judgment. 
Likewise  glorious  gifts  and  foundations  are  like  sacri- 
fices without  salt;  and  but  the  painted  sepulchres  of 
alms,  which  soon  will  putrefy  and  corrupt  inwardly. 
Therefore  measure  not  thine  advancements  by  quan- 
tity, but  frame  them  by  measure :  ^  and  defer  not 
charities  till  death ;  for,  certainly,  if  a  man  weigh  it 
rightl}^,  he  that  doth  so  is  rather  liberal  of  another 
man's  than  of  his  own. 

^  neque  invenies  usquam  tenaciores,  ubi  incipient  ditescere. 

2  aut  vsui  publico,  aut  liberis,  cognatis,  et  amicis. 

3  dona  tua  magnititdine  ne  metiatis,  sed  commoditate  ;  et  ad  debitam  mensu- 
ram  redigas. 


OF  PROPHECIES.  203 


XXXV.    Of  Prophecies.^ 

I  MEAN  not  to  speak  of  divine  prophecies ;  nor  of 
heathen  oracles  ;  nor  of  natural  predictions  ;  but  only 
of  prophecies  that  have  been  of  certain  memory,  and 
from  hidden  causes.  Saith  the  Pythonissa  to  Saul, 
To-rtwrrow  thou  and  thy  son  shall  he  with  me.  Homer 
hath  these  verses : 

At  domus  ^neae  cunctis  dominabitur  oris, 
Et  nati  natorum,  et  qui  nascentur  ab  illis. 

[The  house  of  jJEneas  shall  reign  in  all  lands,  and  his 
children's  children,  and  their  generations.]  A  pro- 
phecy, as  it  seems,  of  the  Roman  empire.  Seneca  the 
tragedian  hath  these  verses : 

Venient  annis 


Saecula  seris,  quibus  Oceanus 
Vincula  rerum  laxet,  et  ingens 
Pateat  Tellus,  Tiphysque  novos  " 
Detegat  orbes ;  nee  sit  terris 
Ultima  Thule: 

[There  shall  come  a  time  when  the  bands  of  ocean 
shall  be  loosened,  and  the  vast  earth  shall  be  laid 
open ;  another  Tiphys  shall  disclose  new  worlds,  and 
lands  shall  be  seen  beyond  Thule :  ]  a  prophecy  of  the 
discovery  of  America.  The  daughter  of  Polycrates 
dreamed  that  Jupiter  bathed  her  father,  and  Apollo 
anointed  him ;  and  it  came  to  pass  that  he  was  cruci- 
fied in  an  open  place,  where  the  sun  made  his  body 
run  with  sweat,  and  the  rain  washed  it.  Philip  of 
Macedon  dreamed  he  sealed  up  his  wife's  belly ; 
whereby  he  did  expound  it,  that  his  wife  should  be 
barren  ;   but  Aristander  the  soothsayer  told  him  his 

1  There  is  no  Latin  translation  of  this  Essay. 


204  OF  PROPHECIES. 

wife  was  with  child,  because  men  do  not  use  to  seal 
vessels  that  are  empty.  A  phantasm  that  appeared 
to  M.  Brutus  in  his  tent,  said  to  him,  Philijypis  iter  am 
me  videbis :  [Thou  shall  see  me  again  at  Philippi.] 
Tiberius  said  to  Galba,  Tu  quoque^  Galha^  degustaUs 
imperium  :  [Thou  likewise  shall  taste  of  empire.]  In 
Vespasian's  time,  there  went  a  prophecy  in  the  East, 
that  those  that  should  come  forth  of  Judea  should  reign 
over  the  world:  which  though  it  may  be  was  meant 
of  our  Saviour,  yet  Tacitus  expounds  it  of  Vespasian. 
Domitian  dreamed,  the  night  before  he  was  slain,  that 
a  golden  head  was  growing  out  of  the  nape  of  his 
neck  :  and  indeed  the  succession  that  followed  him, 
for  many  years,  made  golden  times.  Henry  the  Sixth 
of  England  said  of  Henry  the  Seventh,  when  he  was 
a  lad,  and  gave  him  water.  This  is  the  lad  that  shall 
enjoy  the  crown  for  which  we  strive.  When  I  was  in 
France,  I  heard  from  one  Dr.  Pen  a,  that  the  Queen 
Mother,  who  was  given  to  curious  arts,  caused  the 
King  her  husband's  nativity  to  be  calculated,  under  a 
false  name  ;  and  the  astrologer  gave  a  judgment,  that 
he  should  be  killed  in  a  duel ;  at  which  the  Queen 
laughed,  thinking  her  husband  to  be  above  challenges 
and  duels :  but  he  was  slain  upon  a  course  at  tilt,  the 
splinters  of  the  staff  of  Montgomery  going  in  at  his 
beaver.  The  trivial  prophecy,  which  I  heard  when  I 
was  a  child,  and  queen  Elizabeth  was  in  the  flower  of 
her  years,  was. 

When  hempe  is  sponne 
England's  done : 

whereby  it  was  generally  conceived,  that  after  the 
princes  had  reigned  which  had  the  principial  letters 
of  that   word   hempe   (which   were   Henry,   Edward, 


OF  PROPHECIES.  205 

Mary,  Philip,  and  Elizabeth),  England  should  come 
to  utter  confusion ;  which,  thanks  be  to  God,  is  veri- 
fied only  in  the  change  of  the  name ;  for  that  the 
King's  style  is  now  no  more  of  England,  but  of  Brit- 
ain. There  was  also  andlher  prophecy,  before  the 
year  of  eighty-eight,  which  I  do  not  well  understand. 

There  shall  be  seen  upon  a  day, 
Between  the  Baugh  and  the  May, 
The  black  fleet  of  Norway. 
When  that  that  is  come  and  gone, 
England  build  houses  of  lime  and  stone, 
For  after  wars  shall  you  have  none. 

It  was  generally  conceived  to  be  meant  of  the  Spanish 
fleet  that  came  in  eighty-eight:  for  that  the  king  of 
Spain's  surname,  as  they  say,  is  Norway.  The  pre- 
diction of  Regiomontanus, 

Octogesimus  octavus  mirabilis  annus, 

was  thought  likewise  accomplished  in  the  sending  of 
that  great  fleet,  being  the  greatest  in  strength,  though 
not  in  number,  of  all  that  ever  swam  upon  the  sea. 
As  for  Cleon's  dream,  I  think  it  was  a  jest.  It  was, 
that  he  was  devoured  of  a  long  dragon ;  and  it  was 
expounded  of  a  maker  of  sausages,  that  troubled  him 
exceedingly.  There  are  numbers  of  the  like  kind ; 
especially  if  you  include  dreams,  and  predictions  of 
astrology.  But  I  have  set  down  these  few  only  of 
certain  credit,  for  example.  My  judgment  is,  that 
they  ought  all  to  be  despised ;  and  ought  to  serve  but 
for  winter  talk  by  the  fireside.  Though  when  I  say 
despised,  I  mean  it  as  for  belief;  for  otherwise,  the 
spreading  or  publishing  of  them  is  in  no  sort  to  be  de- 
spised. For  they  have  done  much  mischief;  and  I  see 
many  severe  laws  made  to  suppress  them.     That  that 


206  OF  AMBITION. 

hath  given  them  grace,  and  some  credit,  consisteth  in 
three  things.  First,  that  men  mark  when  they  hit, 
and  never  mark  vs^hen  they  miss ;  as  they  do  generally 
also  of  dreams.  The  second  is,  that  probable  conjec- 
tures, or  obscure  traditions,  many  times  turn  them- 
selves into  prophecies ;  while  the  nature  of  man,  which 
coveteth  divination,  thinks  it  no  peril  to  foretell  that 
which  indeed  they  do  but  collect.  As  that  of  Seneca's 
verse.  For  so  much  was  then  subject  to  demonstra- 
tion, that  the  globe  of  the  earth  had  great  parts  beyond 
the  Atlantic,  which  mought  be  probably  conceived  not 
to  be  all  sea  :  and  adding  thereto  the  tradition  in  Pla- 
to's Timseus,  and  his  Atlanticus,^  it  mought  encourage 
one  to  turn  it  to  a  prediction.  The  third  and  last 
(which  is  the  great  one)  is,  that  almost  all  of  them, 
being  infinite  in  number,  have  been  impostures,  and  by 
idle  and  crafty  brains  merely  contrived  and  feigned 
after  the  event  past. 


XXXVI.    Of  Ambition. 

Ambition  is  like  choler;  which  is  an  humour  that 
maketh  men  active,  earnest,  full  of  alacrity,  and  stir- 
ring, if  it  be  not  stopped.  But  if  it  be  stopped,  and 
cannot  have  his  way,  it  becometh  adust,  and  thereby 
malign  and  venomous.  So  ambitious  men,  if  they 
find  the  way  open  for  their  rising,  and  still  get  forward, 
they  are  rather  busy  than  dangerous ;  but  if  they  be 
checked  ^  in  their  desires,  they  become  secretly  discon- 
tent, and  look  upon  men  and  matters  with  an  evil  eye, 

1  That  is  the  Critias. 
^frcenentur  et  stibmde  frustrentur. 


OF  AMBITION.  207 

and  are  best  pleased  when  things  go  backward  ;  which 
is  the  worst  property  in  a  servant  of  a  prince  or  state. 
Therefore  it  is  good  for  princes,  if  they  use  ambitious 
men,  to  handle  it  so  as  they  be  still  progressive  and  not 
retrograde  ;  which  because  it  cannot  be  without  incon- 
venience, it  is  good  not  to  use  such  natures  at  all.  For 
if  they  rise  not  with  their  service,  they  will  take  order 
to  make  their  service  fall  with  them.  But  since  we 
have  said  it  were  good  not  to  use  men  of  ambitious 
natures,  except  it  be  upon  necessity,  it  is  fit  we  speak 
in  what  cases  they  are  of  necessity.  Good  command- 
ers in  the  wars  must  be  taken,  be  they  never  so  ambi- 
tious ;  for  the  use  of  their  service  dispenseth  with  the 
rest ;  ^  and  to  take  a  soldier  without  ambition  is  to  pull 
off  his  spurs.  There  is  also  great  use  of  ambitious  men 
in  being  screens  to  princes  in  matters  of  danger  and 
envy;  for  no  man  will  take  that  part,  except  he  be  like 
a  seeled  dove,  that  mounts  and  mounts  because  he  can- 
not see  about  him.  There  is  use  also  of  ambitious 
men  in  pulling  down  the  greatness  of  any  subject  that 
overtops ;  as  Tiberius  used  Macro  in  the  pulling  down 
of  Sejanus.  Since  therefore  they  must  be  used  in  such 
cases,  there  resteth  to  speak  how  they  are  to  be  bridled, 
that  they  may  be  less  dangerous.  There  is  less  dan- 
ger of  them  if  they  be  of  mean  birth,  than  if  they  be 
noble  ;  and  if  they  be  rather  harsh  of  nature,  than 
gracious  and  popular:  and  if  they  be  rather  new  raised, 
than  grown  cunning  and  fortified  in  their  greatness. 
It  is  counted  by  some  a  weakness  in  princes  to  have 
favourites  ;  but  it  is  of  all  others  the  best  remedy 
against  ambitious  great-ones.  For  when  the  way  of 
pleasuring  and  displeasuring  lieth  by  the  favourite,  it  is 

1  etenim  utilita^<t  ipsorum,  ut  prceficiantur,  ccetera  compensat. 


208  OF  AMBITION. 

impossible  any  other  should  be  over-great.  Another 
means  to  curb  them,  is  to  balance  them  by  others  as 
proud  as  they.  But  then  there  must  be  some  middle 
counsellors,  to  keep  things  steady ;  ^  for  without  that 
ballast  the  ship  will  roll  too  much.  At  the  least,  a 
prince  may  animate  and  inure  ^  some  meaner  persons, 
to  be  as  it  were  scourges  to  ambitious  men.  As  for  the 
having  of  them  obnoxious  to  ruin  ;  ^  if  they  be  of  fear- 
ful natures,  it  may  do  well ;  but  if  they  be  stout  and 
daring,  it  may  precipitate  their  designs,  and  prove 
dangerous.  As  for  the  pulling  of  them  down,  if  the 
affairs  require  it,  and  that  it  may  not  be  done  with 
safety  suddenly,  the  only  way  is,  the  interchange  con- 
tinually of  favours  and  disgraces ;  whereby  they  may 
not  know  what  to  expect,  and  be  as  it  were  in  a 
wood.  Of  ambitions,  it  is  less  harmftil,  the  ambition 
to  prevail  in  great  things,  than  that  other  to  ap- 
pear in  every  thing  ;  for  that  breeds  confusion,*  and 
mars  business.  But  yet  it  is  less  danger  to  have  an 
ambitious  man  stirring  in  business,  than  great  in  de- 
pendances.^  He  that  seeketh  to  be  eminent  amongst 
able  men  hath  a  great  task  ;  but  that  is  ever  good  for 
the  public.  But  he  that  plots  to  be  the  only  figure 
amongst  ciphers  is  the  decay  of  a  whole  age.  Honour 
hath  three  things  in  it :  the  vantage  ground  to  do 
good  ;  the  approach  to  kings  and  principal  persons  ; 
and  the  raising  of  a  man's  own  fortunes.  He  that 
hath  the  best  of  these  intentions,  when  he  aspireth,  is 

1  qui  partes  medias  teneant,  nefactkmes  omnia  pessundent. 

2  alUcere  .  .  .  et  animare. 

8  quantum  ad  ingenerandam  iUam  in  ambitiosis  opinionem,  ut  se  ruimtproxi- 
mosputent,  atque  eo  modo  contineantur. 
*  confusionem  consiliorum. 
6  qui  gratia  et  clientelis  poUet. 


OF  MASQUES  AND  TRIUMPHS.  209 

an  honest  man ;  and  that  prince  that  can  discern  of 
these  intentions  in  another  that  aspireth,  is  a  wise 
prince.  Generally,  let  princes  and  states  choose  such 
ministers  as  are  more  sensible  of  duty  than  of  rising ; 
and  such  as  love  business  rather  upon  conscience  than 
upon  bravery  ;  ^  and  let  them  discern  a  busy  nature 
from  a  willing  mind. 


XXXVII.    Of  Masques  and  Triumphs.^ 

These  things  are  but  toys,  to  come  amongst  such 
serious  observations.  But  yet,  since  princes  will  have 
such  things,  it  is  better  they  should  be  graced  with 
elegancy  than  daubed  with  cost.  Dancing  to  song, 
is  a  thing  of  great  state  and  pleasure.  I  understand 
it,  that  the  song  be  in  quire,  placed  aloft,  and  accom- 
panied with  some  broken  music ;  and  the  ditty  fitted 
to  the  device.  Acting  in  song,  especially  in  dialogues, 
hath  an  extreme  good  grace  ;  I  say  acting,  not  dancing 
(for  that  is  a  mean  and  vulgar  thing)  ;  and  the  voices 
of  the  dialogue  would  be  strong  and  manly,  (a  base 
and  a  tenor ;  no  treble ; )  and  the  ditty  high  and 
tragical ;  not  *  nice  or  dainty.  Several  quires,  placed 
one  over  ■  against  another,  and  taking  the  voice  by 
catches,  an  them- wise,  give  great  pleasure.  Turn- 
ing dances  into  figure  is  a  childish  curiosity.  And 
generally  let  it  be  noted,  that  those  things  which  I 
here  set  down  are  such  as  do  naturally  take  the  sense, 
and  not  respect  petty  wonderments.  It  is  true,  the 
alterations  of  scenes,  so  it  be  quietly  and  without  noise, 

1  quam  ex  ostentatione. 

2  This  Essay  is  not  translated. 

VOL.  XII.  14 


210  OF  MASQUES  AND  T?JUMPHS. 

are  things  of  great  beauty  and  pleasure ;  for  they  feed 
and  relieve  the  eye,  before  it  be  full  of  the  same  object. 
Let  the  scenes  abound  with  light,  specially  coloured 
and  varied ;  and  let  the  masquers,  or  any  other,  that 
are  to  come  down  from  the  scene,  have  some  motions 
upon  the  scene  itself  before  their  coming  down  ;  for 
it  draws  the  eye  strangely,  and  makes  it  with  great 
pleasure  to  desire  to  see  that  it  cannot  perfectly  dis- 
cern. Let  the  songs  be  loud  and  cheerful,  and  not 
chirpings  or  pulings.  Let  the  music  likewise  be  sharp 
and  loud,  and  well  placed.  The  colours  that  shew  best 
by  candle-light,  are  white,  carnation,  and  a  kind  of 
sea-water-green  ;  and  oes,  or  spangs,  as  they  are  of 
no  great  cost,  so  they  are  of  most  glory.  As  for  rich 
embroidery,  it  is  lost  and  not  discerned.  Let  the  suits 
of  the  masquers  be  graceful,  and  such  as  become  the 
person  when  the  vizards  are  off;  not  after  examples  of 
known  attires ;  Turks,  soldiers,  mariners,  and  the  like. 
Let  anti-masques  not  be  long;  they  have  been  com- 
monly of  fools,  satyrs,  baboons,  wild-men,  antics,  beasts, 
sprites,  witches,  Ethiops,  pigmies,  turquets,  nymphs, 
rustics,  Cupids,  statua's  moving,  and  the  like.  As  for 
angels,  it  is  not  comical  enough  to  put  them  in  anti- 
masques  ;  and  any  thing  that  is  hideous,  as  devils, 
giants,  is  on  the  other  side  as  unfit.  But  chiefly,  let 
the  music  of  them  be  recreative,  and  with  some  strange 
changes.  Some  sweet  odours  suddenly  coming  forth, 
without  any  drops  falling,  are,  in  such  a  company  as 
there  is  steam  and  heat,  things  of  great  pleasure  and 
refreshment.  Double  masques,  one  of  men,  another  of 
ladies,  addeth  state  and  variety.  But  all  is  nothing 
except  the  room  be  kept  clear  and  neat. 

For  justs,  and  tourneys,  and  barriers ;  the  glories  of 


OF  NATURE  IN  MEN.  211 

them  are  chiefly  in  the  chariots,  wherein  the  chal- 
lengers make  their  entry  ;  especially  if  they  be  drawn 
with  strange  beasts  :  as  lions,  bears,  camels,  and  the 
like ;  or  in  the  devices  of  their  entrance  ;  or  in  the 
bravery  of  their  liveries  ;  or  in  the  goodly  furniture 
of  their  horses  and  armour.  But  enough  of  these 
toys. 


XXXVIII.    Of  Nature  in  Men. 

Nature  is  often  hidden ;  sometimes  overcome ;  sel- 
dom extinguished.  Force  maketh  nature  more  violent 
in  the  return  ;  doctrine  and  discourse  maketh  nature 
less  importune ;  ^  but  custom  only  doth  alter  and  sub- 
due nature.  He  that  seeketh  victory  over  his  nature, 
let  him  not  set  himself  too  great  nor  too  small  tasks ; 
for  the  first  will  make  him  dejected  by  often  failings  ; 
and  the  second  will  make  him  a  small  proceeder, 
though  by  often  prevailings.  And  at  the  first  let 
him  practise  with  helps,  as  swimmers  do  with  bladders 
or  rushes ;  but  after  a  time  let  him  practise  with  dis- 
advantages, as  dancers  do  with  thick  shoes.  For  it 
breeds  great  perfection,  if  the  practice  be  harder  than 
the  use.  Where  nature  is  mighty,  and  therefore  the 
victory  hard,  the  degrees  had  need  be,^  first  to  stay  and 
arrest  nature  in  time ;  like  to  him  that  would  say  over 
the  four  and  twenty  letters  ^  when  he  was  angry  ;  then 
to  go  less  in  quantity ;  *  as  if  one  should,  in  forbearing 
wine,  come  from  drinking  healths  to  a  draught  at  a 

1  affectus  naturales  reddunt  minus  quidem  importunos,  sed  non  tollunt. 

2  opus  eritper  gradus  quosdam  procedere,  qui  tales  sint. 
^priusquam  quicquamfaceret. 

4  sec««db,  naturam  moderari  et  ad  minores  portkmes  reducere. 


212  OF  NATURE  IN  MEN. 

meal ;  and  lastly,  to  discontinue  altogether.^  But  if  a 
man  have  the  fortitude  and  resolution  to  enfranchise 
himself  at  once,  that  is  the  best : 

Optimus  ille  animi  vindex  laedentia  pectus 
Vincula  qui  rupit,  dedoluitque  semel. 

[Wouldst  thou  be  free  ?    The  chains  that  gall  thy  breast 
With  one  strong  effort  burst,  and  be  at  rest.] 

Neither  is  the  ancient  rule  amiss,  to  bend  nature  as  a 
wand  to  a  contrary  extreme,  whereby  to  set  it  right ; 
understanding  it,  where  the  contrary  extreme  is  no 
vice.  Let  not  a  man  force  a  habit  upon  himself  with 
a  perpetual  continuance,  but  with  some  intermission. 
For  both  the  pause  reinforceth  the  new  onset ;  and  if 
a  man  that  is  not  perfect  be  ever  in  practice,  he  shall 
as  well  practise  his  errors  as  his  abilities,  and  induce 
one  habit  of  both  ;  and  there  is  no  means  to  help  this 
but  by  seasonable  intermissions.  But  let  not  a  man 
trust  his  victory  over  his  nature  too  far  ;  for  nature 
will  lay  2  buried  a  great  time,  and  yet  revive  upon  the 
occasion  or  temptation.  Like  as  it  was  with  ^sop's 
damsel,  turned  from  a  cat  to  a  woman,  who  sat  very 
demurely  at  the  board's  end,  till  a  mouse  ran  before 
her.  Therefore  let  a  man  either  avoid  the  occasion 
altogether ;  or  put  himself  often  to  it,  that  he  may  be 
little  moved  with  it.  A  man's  nature  is  best  perceived 
in  privateness,  for  there  is  no  affectation  ;  in  passion, 
for  that  putteth  a  man  out  of  his  precepts ;  and  in  a 

1  naturam  penitus  subjugum  mittere  et  domare. 

2  So  in  original,  and  also  in  Ed.  1639.  I  have  not  thought  it  right  to 
substitute  lie,  as  has  been  usually  done ;  because  it  may  be  that  the  form 
of  the  word  was  not  settled  in  Bacon's  time ;  and  the  correction  of  obsolete 
forms  tends  to  conceal  the  history  of  the  language.  Compare  Natural 
History,  Century  I.  19. 


OF  CUSTOM  AND  EDUCATION.  213 

new  case  or  experiment,  for  there  custom  leaveth  liim. 
They  are  happy  men  whose  natures  sort  with  their 
vocations  ;  otherwise  they  may  say,  multum  incola  fuit 
anima  mea^  [my  soul  hath  been  a  stranger  and  a  so- 
journer ;  ]  when  they  converse  in  those  things  they  do 
not  affect.^  In  studies,  whatsoever  a  man  commandeth 
upon  himself,  let  him  set  hours  for  it ;  but  whatsoever 
is  agreeable  to  his  nature,  let  him  take  no  care  for  any 
set  times ;  for  his  thoughts  will  fly  to  it  of  themselves  ; 
so  as  the  spaces  of  other  business  or  studies  will  suffice. 
A  man's  nature  runs  either  to  herbs  or  weeds ;  there- 
fore let  him  seasonably  water  the  one,  and  destroy  the 
other. 


XXXIX.    Of  Custom  and  Education. 

Men's  thoughts  are  much  according  to  their  inclina- 
tion ;  their  discourse  and  speeches  according  to  their 
learning  and  infused  opinions  ;  but  their  deeds  are  af- 
ter as  they  have  been  accustomed.  And  therefore,  as 
Machiavel  well  noteth  (though  in  an  evil-favoured  in- 
stance), there  is  no  trusting  to  the  force  of  nature  nor 
to  the  bravery  of  words,  except  it  be  corroborate  by 
custom.  His  instance  is,  that  for  the  achieving  of  a 
desperate  conspiracy,  a  man  should  not  rest  upon  the 
fierceness  of  any  man's  nature,  or  his  resolute  under- 
takings ;  2  but  take  such  an  one  as  hath  had  his  hands 
formerly  in  blood.  But  Machiavel  knew  not  of  a  friar 
Clement,  nor  a  Ravillac,  nor  a  Jaureguy,  nor  a  Bal- 
tazar  Gerard ;  ^  yet  his  rule  holdeth  still,  that  nature, 

1  This  clause  is  omitted  in  the  translation. 

2  aut  in  pi'omissis  constantibus^  nedum  juramentis. 
8  The  translation  adds :  aut  Guidone  Fauhdo. 


214  OF  CUSTOM  AND  EDUCATION. 

nor  the  engagement  of  words,  are  not  so  forcible  as 
custom.  Only  superstition  is  now  so  well  advanced, 
that  men  of  the  first  blood  ^  are  as  firm  as  butchers  by 
occupation ;  and  votary  resolution  is  made  equipollent 
to  custom  even  in  matter  of  blood.  In  other  things 
the  predominancy  of  custom  is  every  where  visible  ; 
insomuch  as  a  man  would  wonder  to  hear  men  profess, 
protest,  engage,  give  great  words,  and  then  do  just  as 
they  have  done  before ;  as  if  they  were  dead  images, 
and  engines  moved  only  by  the  wheels  of  custom.  We 
see  also  the  reign  or  tyranny  of  custom,  what  it  is. 
The  Indians  (I  mean  the  sect  of  their  wise  men)  ^  lay 
themselves  quietly  upon  a  stack  of  wood,  and  so  sacri- 
fice themselves  by  fire.  Nay  the  wives  strive  to  be 
burned  with  the  corpses  of  their  husbands.  The  lads 
of  Sparta,  of  ancient  time,  were  wont  to  be  scourged 
upon  the  altar  of  Diana,  without  so  much  as  queching.^ 
I  remember,  in  the  beginning  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  time 
of  England,  an  Irish  rebel  condemned,  put  up  a  peti- 
tion to  the  Deputy  that  he  might  be  hanged  in  a  with, 
and  not  in  an  halter  ;  because  it  had  been  so  used  with 
former  rebels.  There  be  monks  in  Russia,  for  pen- 
ance, that  will  sit  a  whole  night  in  a  vessel  of  water, 
till  they  be  engaged  with  hard  ice.  Many  examples 
may  be  put  of  the  force  of  custom,*  both  upon  mind 
and  body.  Therefore,  since  custom  is  the  principal 
magistrate  of  man's  life,  let  men  by  all  means  endeav- 

1  The  translation  hasprimce  classis  sicarii;  (murderers  of  the  first  class): 
which  seems  to  me  to  miss  the  meaning  of  the  English.  "  Men  of  the  first 
blood"  must  mean  here,  men  whose  hands  have  not  been  in  blood  befoi'e. 

2  loquor  de  gymnosophistis^  et  veteribus  et  modernis. 

8  vix  ejulatu  aut  gemitu  ullo  emisso.     Queck,  according  to  Dr.  Whately, 
means  to  move  or  stir. 
^  plane  stwpendas  consuetudinis  viris  ....  prodentia. 


OF  FORTUNE.  215 

our  to  obtain  good  customs.  Certainly  custom  is  most 
perfect  when  it  beginneth  in  young  years :  this  we  call 
education ;  which  is,  in  effect,  but  an  early  custom. 
So  we  see,  in  languages  the  tongue  is  more  pliant  to 
all  expressions  and  sounds,  the  joints  are  more  supple 
to  all  feats  of  activity  and  motions,  in  youth  than  after- 
wards. For  it  is  true  that  late  learners  cannot  so  well 
take  the  ply ;  except  it  be  in  some  minds  that  have  not 
suffered  themselves  to  fix,  but  have  kept  themselves 
open  and  prepared  to  receive  continual  amendment, 
which  is  exceeding  rare.  But  if  the  force  of  custom 
simple  and  separate  be  great,  the  force  of  custom  copu- 
late and  conjoined  and  collegiate  is  far  greater.  For 
there  example  teacheth,  company  comforteth,  emula- 
tion quickeneth,  glory  raiseth  :  so  as  in  such  places 
the  force  of  custom  is  in  his  exaltation.  Certainly  the 
great  multiplication  of  virtues  upon  human  nature^ 
resteth  upon  societies  well  ordained  and  disciplined. 
For  commonwealths  and  good  governments  do  nourish 
virtue  grown,  but  do  not  much  mend  the  seeds.  But 
the  misery  is,  that  the  most  effectual  means  are  now 
applied  to  the  ends  least  to  be  desired. 


XL.    Or  Fortune. 

It  cannot  be  denied,  but  outward  accidents  conduce 
much  to  fortune ;  ^  favour,^  opportunity,  death  of  oth- 
ers, occasion  fitting  virtue.  But  chiefly,  the  mould  of 
a  man's  fortune  is  in  his  own  hands.     Faber  quisque 

1  inultiplicatio  et  {ut  chymicorum  vocabulo  utar)  projectio  super  nattiram 
humanam. 

2  ad  fortunas  promovendas  vel  deprimendas. 
8  gratia  alicujus  ex  magnatibus. 


fortuncB  suce,  saith  the  poet.^  And  the  most  frequent' 
of  external  causes  is,  that  the  folly  of  one  man  is  the 
fortune  of  another.  For  no  man  prospers  so  suddenly 
as  by  others'  errors.  Serpens  nisi  serpentem  comederit 
non  fit  draco.  [A  serpent  must  have  eaten  another 
serpent,  before  he  can  become  a  dragon.]  Overt  and 
apparent  virtues  bring  forth  praise ;  but  there  be  secret 
and  hidden  virtues  that  bring  forth  fortune  ;  certain 
deliveries  of  a  man's  self,  which  have  no  name.  The 
Spanish  name,  desemboltura,  partly  expresseth  them ; 
when  there  be  not  stonds  ^  nor  restiveness  in  a  man's 
nature ;  but  that  the  wheels  of  his  mind  keep  way 
with  the  wheels  of  his  fortune.  For  so  Livy  (after 
he  had  described  Cato  Major  in  these  words.  In  illo 
vivo  tantum  rohur  corporis  et  animi  fuit,  ut  qiwcunque 
loco  natus  esset,  fortunam  sihi  facturus  videretur')  [Such 
was  his  strength  of  body  and  mind,  that  wherever  he 
had  been  born  he  could  have  made  himself  a  fortune ;] 
falleth  upon  that,  that  he  had  versatile  ingenium :  [a 
wit  that  could  turn  well.]  Therefore  if  a  man  look 
sharply  and  attentively,  he  shall  see  Fortune :  for 
though  she  be  blind,  yet  she  is  not  invisible.  The 
way  of  fortune  is  like  the  milken  way  in  the  sky  ; 
which  is  a  meeting  or  knot  of  a  number  of  small  stars ; 
not  seen  asunder,  but  giving  light  together.  So  are 
there  a  number  of  little  and  scarce  discerned  virtues, 
or  rather  faculties  and  customs,  that  make  men  fortu- 
nate. The  Italians  note  some  of  them,  such  as  a  man 
would  little  think.  When  they  speak  of  one  that 
cannot  do  amiss,  they  will  throw  in  into  his  other 
conditions,  that  he  hath  Poco  di  motto.     And  certainly 

1  inquit  Comicus.    The  poet  is  Plautus.    Trinum.  ii.  2.  34. 

2  obices. 


OF  FORTUNE.  217 

there  be  not  two  more  fortunate  properties,  than  to 
have  a  little  of  the  fool,  and  not  too  much  of  the 
honest.  Therefore  extreme  lovers  of  their  country  or 
masters  were  never  fortunate,  neither  can  they  be. 
For  when  a  man  placeth  his  thoughts  without  himself, 
he  goeth  not  his  own  way.  An  hasty  fortune  maketh 
an  enterpriser  and  remover  ;  (the  French  hath  it 
better,  entr&prenant^  or  remnant ;)  but  the  exercised 
fortune  maketh  the  able  man.^  Fortune  is  to  be  hon- 
oured and  respected,  and  it  be  but  for  her  daughters, 
Confidence  and  Reputation.  For  those  two  felicity 
breedeth ;  the  first  within  a  man's  self,  the  latter  in 
others  towards  him.^  All  wise  men,  to  decline  the 
envy  of  their  own  virtues,  use  to  ascribe  them  to 
Providence  and  Fortune ;  for  so  they  may  the  better 
assume  them :  ^  and,  besides,  it  is  greatness  in  a  man 
to  be  the  care  of  the  higher  powers.  So  Caesar  said 
to  the  pilot  in  the  tempest,  Ccesarem  portas,  etfortunam 
ejus :  [You  carry  Caesar  and  his  fortune.]  So  Sylla 
chose  the  name  of  Felix,  and  not  of  Magnus.  And  it 
hath  been  noted,  that  those  who  ascribe  openly  too 
much  to  their  own  wisdom  and  policy,  end  infortunate. 
It  is  written  that  Timotheus  the  Athenian,  after  he 
had,  in  the  account  he  gave  to  the  state  of  his  govern- 
ment, often  interlaced  this  speech,  and  in  this  Fortune 
had  no  part,  never  prospered  in  any  thing  he  under- 
took afterwards.  Certainly  there  be,  whose  fortunes 
are  like  Homer's  verses,  that  have  a  slide  and  easiness 
more  than  the  verses  of  other  poets  ;  as  Plutarch  saith 
of  Timoleon's  fortune,  in  respect  of  that  of  Agesilaus 

1  Fortuna  pro^opera  magna  molientes  et  nonnihil  turbulentos  reddit ;  at 
fortuna  exercita  ea  est  quae  efficU  prudentes  et  cordatos. 

2  The  translation  adds,  Eoeque  vicissim  pariunt  animos  et  auctoritatem. 

3  decentius  et  liberius  eas  sibi  assumere. 


218  OF  USURY. 

or  Epaminondas.     And  that  this  should  be,  no  doubt 
it  is  much  in  a  man's  self. 


XLI.    Of  Usury. 

Many  have  made  witty  invectives  against  Usury. 
They  say  that  it  is  a  pity  the  devil  should  have  God's 
part,  which  is  the  tithe.  That  the  usurer  is  the  gi'eat- 
est  sabbath-breaker,  because  his  plough  goeth  every 
Sunday.  That  the  usurer  is  the  drone  that  Virgil 
speaketh  of; 

Ignavum  fucos  pecus  a  praesepibus  arcent. 

That  the  usurer  breaketh  the  first  law  that  was  made 
for  mankind  after  the  fall,  which  was,  in  sudors  vultus 
tui  cowsdes  panem  tuum  ;  not,  in  sudore  vultus  alieni  ; 
[in  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread  —  not 
in  the  sweat  of  another's  face.]  That  usurers  should 
have  orange-tawny  bonnets,  because  they  do  judaize. 
That  it  is  against  nature  for  money  to  beget  money ; 
and  the  like.  I  say  this  only,  that  usury  is  a  concessum 
propter  duritiem  cordis  :  [a  thing  allowed  by  reason  of 
the  hardness  of  men's  hearts  :]  for  since  there  must 
be  borrowing  and  lending,  and  men  are  so  hard  of 
heart  as  they  will  not  lend  freely,  usury  must  be  per- 
mitted. Some  others  have  made  suspicious  and  cun- 
ning propositions  of  banks,^  discovery  of  men's  estates, 
and  other  inventions.  But  few  have  spoken  of  usury 
usefully.^  It  is  good  to  set  before  us  the  incommodities 
and  commodities  of  usury,  that  the  good  may  be  either 

1  de  argentariis  et  excambiis  publicis. 

2  soUde  et  utiliter. 


OF  USURY.  219 

weighed  out  or  culled  out ;  and  warily  to  provide,  that 
while  we  make  forth  to  that  which  is  better,  we  meet 
not  with  that  which  is  worse. ^ 

The  discommodities  of  usury  are.  First,  that  it  makes 
fewer  merchants.  For  were  it  not  for  this  lazy  trade 
of  usury,  money  would  not  lie  still,  but  would  in  great 
part  be  employed  upon  merchandizing  ;  which  is  the 
vena  porta'^  of  wealth  in  a  state.  The  second,  that  it 
makes  poor  merchants.  For  as  a  farmer  cannot  hus- 
band his  ground  so  well  if  he  sit  at  a  great  rent ;  so 
the  merchant  cannot  drive  his  trade  so  well,  if  he  sit 
at  great  usury.  The  third  is  incident  to  the  other 
two ;  ^  and  that  is  the  decay  of  customs  of  kings  or 
states,  which  ebb  or  flow  with  merchandizing.  The 
fourth,  that  it  bringeth  the  treasure  of  a  realm  or  state 
into  a  few  hands.  For  the  usurer  being  at  certainties, 
and  others  at  uncertainties  at  the  end  of  the  2:ame* 
most  of  the  money  will  be  in  the  box;  and  ever  a 
state  flourisheth  when  wealth  is  more  equally  spread.^ 
The  fifth,  that  it  beats  down  the  price  of  land  ;  for 
the  employment  of  money  is  chiefly  either  merchan- 
dizing or  purchasing ;  and  usury  waylays  both.  The 
sixth,  that  it  doth  dull  and  damp  all  industries,  im- 
provements, and  new  inventions,  wherein  money 
would  be  stirring,  if  it  were  not  for  this  slug.  The 
last,  that  it  is  the  canker  and  ruin  of  many  men's 
estates ;  which  in  process  of  time  breeds  a  public 
poverty. 

On  the  other  side,  the  commodities  of  usury  are, 

1  ne  dum  f(£7iore  feramur  in  melius,  intercipiamur  et  incidamus  in  pejus. 

2  See  p.  145,  note  2. 

8  duarum  priorum  appendix  qucedam. 

4  So  Ed.  1639.    The  original  has  gaine ;  the  translation,  injine  ludi. 

6  qumnpecunicB  dispergantur  non  conserventur. 


220  OF  USURY. 

first,  that  howsoever  usury  in  some  respect  hindereth 
merchandizing,  yet  in  some  other  it  advanceth  it ;  for 
it  is  certain  that  the  greatest  part  of  trade  is  driven  by 
young  merchants,  upon  borrowing  at  interest ;  so  as  if 
the  usurer  either  call  in  or  keep  back  his  money,  there 
will  ensue  presently  a  great  stand  of  trade.  The  sec- 
ond is,  that  were  it  not  for  this  easy  borrowing  upon 
interest,  men's  necessities  would  draw  upon  them  a 
most  sudden  undoing ;  in  that  they  would  be  forced 
to  sell  their  means  (be  it  lands  or  goods)  far  under 
foot ;  ^  and  so,  whereas  usury  doth  but  gnaw  upon 
them,  bad  markets^  would  swallow  them  quite  up. 
As  for  mortgaging  or  pawning,  it  will  little  mend  the 
matter:  for  either  men  will  not  take  pawns  without 
use  ;  or  if  they  do,  they  will  look  precisely  for  the 
forfeiture.  I  remember  a  cruel  monied  man  in  the 
country,  that  would  say.  The  devil  take  this  usury, 
it  keep  us  from  forfeitures  of  mortgages  and  bonds. 
The  third  and  last  is,  that  it  is  a  vanity  to  conceive 
that  there  would  be  ordinary  borrowing  without  profit; 
and  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  the  number  of  incon- 
veniences that  will  ensue,  if  borrowing  be  cramped. 
Therefore  to  speak  of  the  abolishing  of  usury  is  idle. 
All  states  have  ever  had  it,  in  one  kind  or  rate,  or 
other.     So  as  that  opinion  must  be  sent  to  Utopia. 

To  speak  now  of  the  reformation  and  reiglement  of 
usury ;  how  the  discommodities  of  it  may  be  best 
avoided,  and  the  commodities  retained.  It  appears 
by  the  balance  of  commodities  and  discommodities  of 
usury ,^  two  things   are   to  be  reconciled.      The   one, 

1  nimis  vili  pretio. 

2  disiractiones  prceproperce. 
8  quod  Tnodo  fecimus. 


OF  USURY.  221 

that  the  tooth  of  usury  be  grinded,  that  it  bite  not 
too  much  ;  the  other,  that  there  be  left  open  a  means 
to  invite  monied  men  to  lend  to  the  merchants,  for 
the  continuing  and  quickening  of  trade.  This  cannot 
be  done,  except  you  introduce  two  several  sorts  of 
usury,  a  less  and  a  greater.  For  if  you  reduce  usury 
to  one  low  rate,  it  will  ease  the  common  borrower,  but 
the  merchant  will  be  to  seek  for  money.  And  it  is 
to  be  noted,  that  the  trade  of  merchandize,  being  the 
most  lucrative,  may  bear  usury  at  a  good  rate :  other 
contracts  not  so. 

To  serve  both  intentions,  the  way  would  be  briefly 
thus.  That  there  be  two  rates  of  usury ;  the  one 
free,  and  general  for  all ;  the  other  under  licence  only, 
to  certain  persons  and  in  certain  places  of  merchan- 
dizing. First  therefore,  let  usury  in  general  be  re- 
duced to  five  in  the  hundred ;  and  let  that  rate  be 
proclaimed  to  be  free  and  current;  and  let  the  state 
shut  itself  out  to  take  any  penalty  for  the  same.^ 
This  will  preserve  borrowing  fi'om  any  general  stop 
or  dryness.  This  will  ease  infinite  borrowers  in  the 
country.^  This  will,  in  good  part,  raise  the  price  of 
land,  because  land  purchased  at  sixteen  years'  pur- 
chase will  yield  six  in  the  hundred,  and  somewhat 
more ;  whereas  this  rate  of  interest  yields  but  five.^ 
This  by  like  reason  will  encourage  and  edge  indus- 
trious and  profitable  improvements ;  because  many 
will  rather  venture  in  that  kind  than  take  five  in  the 
hundred,  especially  having  been  used  to  greater  profit. 

1  mulctce  omni  renunciet. 

2  rure  et  alibi  degentibm. 

8  Quandoquidem  annuus  valor  prcediorum,  hie  apud  nos  in  Anglia,  excedet 
ilium  foenoris  ad  hanc  proportionem  redacti,  quantum  annuus  valor  sex  libror 
rum  excedit  ilium  quinque  tantum. 


Secondly,  let  there  be  certain  persons  licensed  to  lend 
to  known  merchants  upon  usury  at  a  higher  rate ;  and 
let  it  be  with  the  cautions  following.  Let  the  rate  be, 
even  with  the  merchant  himself,  somewhat  more  easy 
than  that  he  used  formerly  to  pay ;  for  by  that  means 
all  borrowers  shall  have  some  ease  by  this  reformation, 
be  he  merchant,  or  whosoever.  Let  it  be  no  bank  or 
common  stock,  but  every  man  be  master  of  his  own 
money.  Not  that  I  altogether  mislike  banks,  but  they 
will  hardly  be  brooked,  in  regard  of  certain  suspicions.^ 
Let  the  state  be  answered  some  small  matter  for  the 
licence,  and  the  rest  left  to  the  lender ;  for  if  the  aba.te- 
ment  be  but  small,  it  will  no  whit  discourage  the 
lender.  For  he,  for  example,  that  took  before  ten  or 
nine  in  the  hundred,  will  sooner  descend  to  eight  in 
the  hundred,  than  give  over  his  trade  of  usury,  and 
go  from  certain  gains  to  gains  of  hazard.  Let  these 
licensed  lenders  be  in  number  indefinite,  but  restrained 
to  certain  principal  cities  and  towns  of  merchandizing ; 
for  then  they  will  be  hardly  able  to  colour  other  men's 
monies  in  the  country :  so  as  the  licence  of  nine  will 
not  suck  away  the  current  rate  of  five ;  ^  for  no  man 
will  lend  his  monies  far  off,  nor  put  them  into  un- 
known hands. 

If  it  be  objected  that  this  doth  in  a  sort  authorize 
usury,  which  before  was  in  some  places  but  permissive ; 
the  answer  is,  that  it  is  better  to  mitigate  usury  by 
declaration,  than  to  suffer  it  to  rage  by  connivance.^ 

1  These  two  sentences  are  omitted  in  the  translation. 

2  ita  enim,  prcBtextu  licentiarum,  qpportunitatem  non  hahebunt  pecunias  alio- 
rum  pi'O  suis  commodandi :  nee  novem  out  octo  librarum  proportio,  licentia 
munita,  generalem  illam  quinque  librarum  absorbebit.  To  "  colour  another 
man's  money"  is  to  pass  it  for  one's  own.  See  Whateley's  edition  of  Ba- 
con's Essays,  p.  382. 

8  The  last  paragraph  is  omitted  in  the  translation. 


OF  YOUTH  AND  AGE.  223 

XLII.    Of  Youth  and  Age. 

A  MAN  that  is  young  in  years  may  be  old  in  hours, 
if  he  have  lost  no  time.  But  that  happeneth  rarely. 
Generally,  youth  is  like  the  first  cogitations,  not  so 
wise  as  the  second.  For  there  is  a  youth  in  thoughts, 
as  well  as  in  ages.  And  yet  the  invention  of  young 
men  is  more  lively  than  that  of  old  ;  and  imaginations 
stream  into  their  minds  better,  and  as  it  were  more 
divinely.  Natures  that  have  much  heat  and  great  and 
violent  desires  and  perturbations,  are  not  ripe  for  action 
till  they  have  passed  the  meridian  of  their  years ;  as 
it  was  with  Julius  Caesar,  and  Septimius  Severus.  Of 
the  latter  of  whom  it  is  said,  Juveiitutem  egit  erroribus, 
imo  furoribus,  plenam  ;  [He  passed  a  youth  full  of 
errors,  yea  of  madnesses.]  And  yet  he  was  the 
ablest^  emperor,  almost,  of  all  the  list.  But  reposed 
natures  may  do  well  in  youth.  As  it  is  seen  in 
Augustus  Caesar,  Cosmus  Duke  of  Florence,  Gaston 
de  Fois,  and  others.  On  the  other  side,  heat  and 
vivacity  in  age  is  an  excellent  composition  for  busi- 
ness. Young  men  are  fitter  to  invent  than  to  judge  ; 
fitter  for  execution  than  for  counsel ;  and  fitter  for 
new  projects  than  for  settled  business.^  For  the  ex- 
perience of  age,^  in  things  that  fall  within  the  compass 
of  it,  directeth  them  ;  but  in  new  things,  abuseth  them. 
The  errors  of  young  men  are  the  ruin  of  business ;  but 
the  errors  of  aged  men  amount  but  to  this,  that  more 
might  have  been  done,  or  sooner.  Young  men,  in  the 
conduct  and  manage  of  actions,  embrace  more  than 

1  celeberrimus. 

2  et  ad  negotia  nova  melius  adhibeniur  quam  ad  consueta. 

3  senum. 


224 


OF  YOUTH  AND  AGE. 


they  can  hold ;  stir  more  than  they  can  quiet ;  fly  to  the 
end,  without  consideration  of  the  means  and  degrees ; 
pursue  some  few  principles  which  they  have  chanced 
upon  absurdly  ;  care  not  to  innovate,  which  draws 
unknown  inconveniences  ;  ^  use  extreme  remedies  at 
first ;  and  that  which  doubleth  all  errors,  will  not  ac- 
knowledge or  retract  them  ;  like  an  unready  horse,^ 
that  will  neither  stop  nor  turn.  Men  of  age  object 
too  much,  consult  too  long,  adventure  too  little,  repent 
too  soon,^  and  seldom  drive  business  home  to  the  full 
period,  but  content  themselves  with  a  mediocrity  of 
success.  Certainly  it  is  good  to  compound  employ- 
ments of  both ;  for  that  will  be  good  for  the  present, 
because  the  virtues  of  either  age  may  correct  the  de- 
fects of  both  ;  and  good  for  succession,  that  yoUng 
men  may  be  learners,  while  men  in  age  are  actors; 
and,  lastly,  good  for  extern  accidents,  because  author- 
ity followeth  old  men,  and  favour  and  popularity 
youth.  But  for  the  moral  part,  perhaps  youth  will 
have  the  pre-eminence,  as  age  hath  for  the  politic.  A 
certain  rabbin,  upon  the  text,  Your  young  men  shall  see 
visions^  and  your  old  men  shall  dream  dreams^  inferreth 
that  young  men  are  admitted  nearer  to  God  than  old, 
because  vision  is  a  clearer  revelation  than  a  dream. 
And  certainly,  the  more  a  man  drinketh  of  the  world, 
the  more  it  intoxicate th  :  and  age  doth  profit  rather  in 
the  powers  of  understanding,  than  in  the  virtues  of  the 
will  and  affections.  There  be  some  have  an  over-early 
ripeness  in  their  years,  which  fadeth  betimes.*     These 


1  This  clause  is  omitted  in  the  translation. 

2  equus  male  domitus. 

^  pericula  plus  quam  expedit  reformidant;  pc&nitentid  prceproperA  vacillant. 
4  sunt  qui  in  juventute  admodum  prcecoces  sunt,  sed  currentibus  annis  cito 
marcescunt. 


OF  BEAUTY.  225 

are,  first,  such  as  have  brittle  wits,  the  edge  whereof  is 
soon  turned ;  such  as  was  Hermogenes  the  rhetorician, 
whose  books  are  exceeding  subtle  ;  who  afterwards 
waxed  stupid.  A  second  sort  is  of  those  that  have 
some  natural  dispositions  which  have  better  grace  in 
youth  than  in  age ;  such  as  is  a  fluent  and  luxuriant 
speech ;  which  becomes  youth  well,  but  not  age :  so 
Tully  saith  of  Hortensius,  Idem  manebat,  neque  idem 
deeehat :  [He  continued  the  same,  when  the  same  was 
not  becoming.]  The  third  is  of  such  as  take  too  high 
a  strain  at  the  first,  and  are  magnanimous  more  than 
tract  of  years  can  uphold.  As  was  Scipio  Africanus, 
of  whom  Livy  saith  in  effect.  Ultima  primis  cedehant : 
[His  last  actions  were  "not  equal  to  his  first.] 


XLHI.    Of  Beauty. 

Virtue  is  like  a  rich  stone,  best  plain  set ;  and 
surely  virtue  is  best  in  a  body  that  is  comely,  though 
not  of  delicate  features ;  and  that  hath  rather  dignity 
of  presence,  than  beauty  of  aspect.  Neither  is  it 
almost  seen,  that  very  beautiful  persons  are  otherwise 
of  great  virtue ;  as  if  nature  were  rather  busy  not  to 
err,  than  in  labour  to  produce  excellency.  And  there- 
fore they  prove  accomplished,  but  not  of  great  spirit ; 
and  study  rather  behaviour  than  virtue.  But  this 
holds  not  always  :  for  Augustus  Caesar,  Titus  Yespa- 
sianus,  Philip  le  Bel  of  France,  Edward  the  Fourth 
of  England,  Alcibiades  of  Athens,  Ismael  the  Sophy 
of  Persia,  were  all  high  and  great  spirits  ;  and  yet 
the  most  beautiful  men  of  their  times.^      In  beauty, 

1  et  niMhminm  perpulchri. 

VOL.   XII.  15 


226  OF  BEAUTY. 

that  of  favour  ^  is  more  than  that  of  colour ;  and  that 
of  decent  and  gracious  motion  ^  more  than  that  of 
favour.  That  is  the  best  part  of  beauty,  which  a 
picture  cannot  express ;  no  nor  the  first  sight  of  life. 
There  is  no  excellent  beauty  that  hath  not  some 
strangeness  in  the  proportion.  A  man  cannot  tell 
whether  Apelles  or  Albert  Durer  were  the  more 
trifler ;  whereof  the  one  would  make  a  personage 
by  geometrical  proportions  ;  the  other,  by  taking  the 
best  parts  out  of  divers  faces,  to  make  one  excellent. 
Such  personages,  I  think,  would  please  nobody  but  the 
painter  that  made  them.  Not  but  I  think  a  painter 
may  make  a  better  face  than  ever  was ;  but  he  must 
do  it  by  a  kind  of  felicity,^  (as  a  musician  that  maketh 
an  excellent  air  in  music,)  and  not  by  rule.  A  man 
shall  see  faces,  that  if  you  examine  them  part  by  part, 
you  shall  find  never  a  good  ;  and  yet  altogether  do 
well.  If  it  be  true  that  the  principal  part  of  beauty 
is  in  decent  motion,  certainly  it  is  no  marvel  though 
persons  in  years  seem  many  times  more  amiable  ;  * 
pulchrorum  autumnus  pulcher  ;  [beautiful  persons  have 
a  beautiful  Autumn  ;]  for  no  youth  can  be  comely 
but  by  pardon,  and  considering  the  youth  as  to  make 
up  the  comeliness.^     Beauty  is  as  summer  fruits,  which 

1  venustas. 

2  decorus  et  gratiosus  corporis  et  oris  motus. 

^felicitate  qvAdam  et  casu.     Keats  seems  to  have  felt  that  this  is  true 
also  with  regard  to  his  own  art :  — 

"When  I  behold  upon  the  night's  starred  face 
Huge  cloud}'  symbols  of  a  high  romance, 
And  think  that  I  may  never  live  to  trace 

Their  shadows,  loith  the  magic  hand  of  chance.^' 
—  Life,  Letters,  ^c.  of  John  Keats,  vol.  ii.  p.  293. 
4  The  translation  adds :  Secundum  illud  Eurijndis. 

6  Etenim  fieri  non  potest  ut  juvenis  per  omnia  decus  tueatur,  nisi  fo)He  jUr 
ventutem  ipsam  ad  svpplementum  decoris  assumas. 


OF  DEFORMITY.  227 

are  easy  to  corrupt,  and  cannot  last ;  and  for  the  most 
part  it  makes  a  dissolute  youth,  and  an  age  a  little  out 
of  countenance  ;  ^  but  yet  certainly  again,  if  it  light 
well,  it  maketh  virtue  shine,  and  vices  blush. 


XLIV.    Of  Deformity. 

Deformed  persons  are  commonly  even  with  na- 
ture ;  2  for  as  nature  hath  done  ill  by  them,  so  do  they 
by  nature ;  being  for  the  most  part  (as  the  Scripture 
saith)  void  of  natural  affection  ;  and  so  they  have  their 
revenge  of  nature.^  Certainly  there  is  a  consent  be- 
tween the  body  and  the  mind ;  and  where  nature 
erreth  in  the  one,  she  ventureth  in  the  other.  ITbi 
peccat  m  wio,  periclitatur  in  altero.  But  because 
there  is  in  man  an  election  touching  the  frame  of  his 
mind,  and  a  necessity  in  the  frame  of  his  body,  the 
stars  of  natural  inclination  are  sometimes  obscured  by 
the  sun  of  discipHne  and  virtue.  Therefore  it  is  good 
to  consider  of  deformity,  not  as  a  sign,  which  is  more 
deceivable  ;  but  as  a  cause,  which  seldom  faileth  of 
the  effect.  Whosoever  hath  any  thing  fixed  in  his 
person  that  doth  induce  contempt,  hath  also  a  per- 
petual spur  in  himself  to  rescue  and  deliver  himself 
from  scorn.  Therefore  all  deformed  persons  are  ex- 
treme bold.  First,  as  in  their  own  defence,  as  being 
exposed  to  scorn ;  but  in  process  of  time  by  a  general 
habit.  Also  it  stirreth  in  them  industry,  and  espe- 
cially of  this  kind,  to  watch  and  observe  the  weakness 

1  senectuiem  autem  sero  poenitentem. 

2  naturamfere  ulciscuntur. 

8  This  clause  is  omitted  in  the  translation. 


228  OF  BUILDING. 

of  others,  that  they  may  have  somewhat  to  repay. 
Again,  in  their  superiors,  it  quencheth  jealousy  tow- 
ards them,  as  persons  that  they  think  they  may  at 
pleasure  despise :  and  it  layeth  their  competitors  and 
emulators  asleep ;  as  never  believing  they  should  be 
in  possibility  of  advancement,  till  they  see  them  in 
possession.  So  that  upon  the  matter,  in  a  great  wit, 
deformity  is  an  advantage  to  rising.  Kings  in  ancient 
times  (and  at  this  present  in  some  countries)  were 
wont  to  put  great  trust  in  eunuchs ;  because  they  that 
are  envious  towards  all  are  more  obnoxious  and  offi- 
cious towards  one.  But  yet  their  trust  towards  them 
hath  rather  been  as  to  good  spials  and  good  whisperers, 
than  good  magistrates  and  officers.  And  much  like  is 
the  reason  of  deformed  persons.  Still  the  ground  is, 
they  will,  if  they  be  of  spirit,  seek  to  free  themselves 
from  scorn ;  which  must  be  either  by  virtue  or  malice ; 
and  therefore  let  it  not  be  marvelled  if  sometimes  they 
prove  excellent  persons  ;  as  was  Agesilaus,  Zanger  the 
son  of  Solyman,  iEsop,  Gasca  President  of  Peru ;  and 
Socrates  may  go  likewise  amongst  them ;  with  others. 


XLV.  Of   Building. 

Houses  are  built  to  live  in,  and  not  to  look  on ; 
therefore  let  use  be  preferred  before  uniformity,  except 
where  both  may  be  had.  Leave  the  goodly  fabrics  of 
houses,  for  beauty  only,  to  the  enchanted  palaces  of 
the  poets ;  who  build  them  with  small  cost.  He  that 
builds  a  fair  house  upon  an  ill  seat,  committeth  him- 
self to  prison.  Neither  do  I  reckon  it  an  ill  seat  only 
where  the  air  is  unwholesome ;  but  likewise  where  the 


OF  BUILDING.  229 

air  is  unequal;  as  you  shall  see  many  fine  seats  set 
upon  a  knap  of  ground,  environed  with  higher  hills 
round  about  it ;  ^  whereby  the  heat  of  the  sun  is  pent 
in,  and  the  wind  gathereth  '^  as  in  troughs ;  so  as  you 
shall  have,  and  that  suddenly,  as  great  diversity  of 
heat  and  cold  as  if  you  dwelt  in  several  places.  Nei- 
ther is  it  ill  air  only  that  maketh  an  ill  seat,  but  ill 
ways,  ill  markets :  and,  if  you  will  consult  with  Mo- 
mus,^  ill  neighbours.  I  speak  not  of  many  more  ; 
want  of  water  ;  want  of  wood,  shade,  and  shelter ; 
want  of  fruitfulness,  and  mixture*  of  grounds  of  sev- 
eral natures ;  want  of  prospect ;  want  of  level  grounds ; 
want  of  places  at  some  near  distance  for  sports  of 
hunting,  hawking,  and  races  ;  too  near  the  sea,  too 
remote;  having  the  commodity  of  navigable  rivers,^ 
or  the  discommodity  of  their  overflowing ;  too  far  off 
from  great  cities,  which  may  hinder  business,  or  too 
near  them,  which  lurcheth  all  provisions,^  and  maketh 
every  thing  dear ;  where  a  man  hath  a  great  living 
laid  together,  and  where  he  is  scanted :  all  which,  as 
it  is  impossible  perhaps  to  find  together,  so  it  is  good 
to  know  them,  and  think  of  them,  that  a  man  may 
take  as  many  as  he  can  ;  ^  and  if  he  have  several  dwell- 

1  in  coUiculo  panlulum  elevato ;  sed  cincto  undique,  more  theatri,  coUibus 
altioribus. 

2  variis  cestUms  redprocantur. 

3  For  an  explanation  of  this  allusion  to  Momus,  about  which  there  has 
been  some  controversy  of  late,  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Ellis.  "  In  one  of 
^sop's  fables,"  he  writes,  "Minerva  makes  a  house;  and  Momus  says  it 
should  have  been  on  wheels,  to  get  away  from  bad  neighbours." 

4  That  is,  want  of  mixture.  Sterilitas  soli,  aut  qvod  ex  variis  glebarum 
generibus  minime  commistum  sit. 

5  So  in  the  original,  and  also  in  Ed.  1639.  It  seems  as  if  not  had  drop- 
ped out;  or  as  if  the  should  be  no.  The  translation  has  commoditas  nulla 
Jluviorum  namgabilium. 

6  qtiod  victui  necessaria  absorbet. 

7  locus  vbi  quis  latifundia  ampla  possideat,  aut  acquirere  possit,  et  locus. 


230  OF  BUILDING. 

ings,  that  he  sort  them  so,  that  what  he  wanteth  in 
the  one  he  may  find  in  the  other.  Lucullus  answered 
Pompey  well ;  who,  when  he  saw  his  stately  galleries, 
and  rooms  so  large  and  lightsome,  in  one  of  his  houses, 
said.  Surely  an  excellent  place  for  summer^  hut  how  do 
you  in  winter?  Lucullus  answered,  Why^  do  you  not 
think  me  as  wise  as  some  fowl  are,  that  ever  change  their 
abode  towards  the  winter  f 

To  pass  from  the  seat  to  the  house  itself;  we  will  do 
as  Cicero  doth  in  the  orator's  art ;  who  writes  books 
Be  Oratore,  and  a  book  he  entitles  Orator ;  whereof 
the  former  delivers  the  precepts  of  the  art,  and  the 
latter  the  perfection.  We  will  therefore  describe  a 
princely  palace,  making  a  brief  model  thereof.  For 
it  is  strange  to  see,  now  in  Europe,  such  huge  build- 
ings as  the  Vatican  and  Escurial  and  some  others  be, 
and  yet  scarce  a  very  fair^  room  in  them. 

First  therefore,  I  say  you  cannot  have  a  perfect 
palace,  except  you  have  two  several  sides  ;  ^  a  side  for 
the  banquet,  as  is  spoken  of  in  the  book  of  Hester,  and 
a  side  for  the  household ;  the  one  for  feasts  and  tri- 
umphs, and  the  other  for  dwelling.  I  understand  both 
these  sides  to  be  not  only  returns,^  but  parts  of  the 
front;  and  to  be  uniform  without,  though  severally 
partitioned  within ;  and  to  be  on  both  sides  of  a  great 
and  stately  tower  in  the  midst  of  the  front,  that,  as  it 
were,  joineth  them  together  on  either  hand.  I  would 
have  on  the  side  of  the  banquet,  in  front,  one  only 

contra  uUpennas  extender e  nequeat:  quce  singula  minime  eo  animo  enumera- 
mus  ac  si  domus  aliqua  his  incommodis  omnibus  vacare  possit,  verum  ut  tot  ex 
illis  evitemus  quot  evitari  cancedatur. 

1  vere  magnijicam. 

2  nisi  duos  habeai  portiones  diversas. 

3  non  ut  latera  domus. 


OF   BUILDING.  231 

goodly  room  above  stairs,  of  some  forty  foot  high  ;  ^ 
and  under  it  a  room  for  a  dressing  or  preparing  place 
at  times  of  triumphs.^  On  the  other  side,  wliich  is 
the  household  side,  I  wish  it  divided  at  the  first  into  a 
hall  and  a  chapel,  (with  a  partition  between ;)  both  of 
good  state  and  bigness ;  ^  and  those  not  to  go  all  the 
length,  but  to  have  at  the  further  end  a  winter  and  a 
summer  parlour,  both  fair.  And  under  these  rooms,* 
a  fair  and  large  cellar  sunk  under  ground ;  and  like- 
wise some  privy  kitchens,  with  butteries  and  pantries, 
and  the  like.  As  for  the  tower,  I  would  have  it  two 
stories,  of  eighteen^  foot  high  a  piece,  above  the  two 
wings ;  and  a  goodly  leads  upon  the  top,^  railed  with 
statua's  interposed ;  and  the  same  tower  to  be  divided 
into  rooms,  as  shall  be  thought  fitJ  The  stairs  like- 
wise to  the  upper  rooms,  let  them  be  upon  a  fair  open 
newel,  and  finely  railed  in  with  images  of  wood,  cast 
into  a  brass  colour  ;  ^  and  a  very  fair  landing-place  at 
the  top.  But  this  to  be,  if  you  do  not  point  any  of 
the  lower  rooms  for  a  dining  place  of  servants.  For 
otherwise  you  shall  have  the  servants'  dinner  after 
your  own :  for  the  steam  of  it  will  come  up  as  in  a 
tunnel.^     And  so  much  for  the  front.     Only  I  under- 

i  The  translation  raises  it  to  fifty  feet.  Eamque  supra  gradus  ad  quin- 
qtuiginta  pedes  ad  minus  altam. 

2  et  subter  earn  cameram  item  alteram,  similis  longitudinis  et  latitudinis; 
quce  apparatum  et  instructionem  ad  festa,  ludos,  et  ejusmodi  magnijiceniias, 
actcn-es  etiam  dum  se  ornent  et  parent,  commode  recipiat. 

8  amjdam  et  pulchram. 

4  atque  subter  hcec  omnia  (excepto  saceUo). 

5  quindecim.  6  coopertam  plumbo,  cequahili. 

7  This  clause  is  omitted  in  the  translation. 

8  gradus  autem  turris  apertos  esse,  et  in  se  revertentes,  et  per  senos  subinde 
divisos :  utrinque  statuis  ligneis  inauratis,  vel  saltern  cenei  coloris  cinctos. 

9  verum  cavendum  ne  locus  ubi  famuli  comedant  sit  ad  imum  qradum.  vel 
pi'ope ;  si  enim  sit,  ciborum  nidor  ascendet,  tanquam  in  tubo  quodam. 


232  OF  BUILDING. 

stand  the  height  of  the  first  stairs  to  be  sixteen  foot,^ 
which  is  the  height  of  the  lower  room. 

Beyond  this  front  is  there  to  be  a  fair  court,  but 
three  sides  of  it,  of  a  far  lower  building  than  the  front. 
And  in  all  the  four  corners  of  that  court  fair  stair- 
cases, cast  into  turrets,  on  the  outside,  and  not  within 
the  row  of  buildings  themselves.  But  those  towers 
are  not  to  be  of  the  height  of  the  front,  but  rather 
proportionable  to  the  lower  building.^  Let  the  court 
not  be  paved,  for  that  striketh  up  a  great  heat  in  sum- 
mer, and  much  cold  in  winter.  But  only  some  side 
alleys,  with  a  cross,  and  the  quarters  to  graze,  being 
kept  shorn,  but  not  too  near  shorn. ^  The  row  of  re- 
turn *  on  the  banquet  side,  let  it  be  all  stately  gal- 
leries :  in  which  galleries  let  there  be  three,  or  five, 
fine  cupolas  in  the  length  of  it,  placed  at  equal  dis- 
tance ;  and  fine  coloured  windows  of  several  works.^ 
On  the  household  side,  chambers  of  presence  and  or- 
dinary entertainments,^  with  some  bed-chambers  ;  and 
let  all  three  sides  be  a  double  house,  without  thorough 
lights  on  the  sides,  that  you  may  have  rooms ''  from 
the   sun,  both  for  forenoon  and  afternoon.      Cast   it 

1  viginti. 

2  turres  extruantur,  altkudinem  latemm  proedictoi'um  nonnihil  superantes, 
ad  gradus  quibus  in  svperiora  ascendatur  capiendos ;  quce  turres  non  recipi- 
antur  in  planum  cedijicii,  sed  extra  pr-omineant. 

8  Area  autem  integra  lapidibus  latis  quadrangulis  minime  substernatur ; 
nam  hujusmodi  pavimenta  cahrem  molestum  cestate,  et  similiter  frigus  as- 
perum  hyeme  immittunt :  sed  habeat  ambulacra,  ex  ejusmodi  lapidibtis,  per 
latera  tantum  cedijicii;  et  formam  crucis  ex  iisdem  in  medio;  cum  quadris 
interpositis,  quce  gr amine  vestiantur,  detonso  quidem,  sed  non  nimis  prope 
terram. 

■*  latus  universum  arece. 

6  ubi  pingantur  columme,  imagines  omnigence,  flores,  et  similia. 

6  At  latus  ex  parte  familice,  simul  cum  latere  tertio  e  regione  frontis,  com- 
plectatur  cameras  prcesentiales ;  et  alias  usus  ac  decoris  ordinarii. 

'  cubicula  et  camerm. 


OF  BUILDING.  233  \ 

also,  that  you  may  have  rooms  both  for  summer  and  \ 

winter ;    shady   for   summer,    and   warm   for   winter. 

You  shall  have  sometimes  fair  houses  so  full  of  glass, 

that  one  cannot  tell  where  to  become  to  be  out  of  the 

sun  or  cold.     For  inbowed  windows,  I  hold  them  of 

good  use ;    (in  cities,  indeed,  upright  ^   do  better,  in 

respect   of  the   uniformity  towards   the  street ; )    for 

they   be    pretty  retiring   places   for  conference  ;    and 

besides,   they  keep  both  the  wind  and  sun  off;    for 

that  which  would  strike   almost   thorough    the  room 

doth  scarce  pass  the  window.      But  let  them  be  but 

few,  four  in  the  court,  on  the  sides  only.^ 

Beyond  this  court,  let  there  be  an  inward  court,  of 
the  same  square  and  height ;  which  is  to  be  environed 
with  the  garden  on  all  sides ;  ^  and  in  the  inside,  clois- 
tered on  all  sides,  upon  decent  and  beautiful  arches, 
as  high  as  the  first  story.  On  the  under  story, 
towards  the  garden,  let  it  be  turned  to  a  grotta,  or 
place  of  shade,  or  estivation.  And  only  have  open- 
ing and  windows  towards  the  garden  ;  and  be  level 
upon  the  floor,  no  whit  sunken  under  ground,  to  avoid 
all  dampishness.  And  let  there  be  a  fountain,  or  some 
fair  work  of  statua's  in  the  midst  of  this  court;  and 
to  be  paved  as  the  other  court  was.  These  buildings 
to  be  for  privy  lodgings  on  both  sides  ;  and  the  end  * 
for  privy  galleries.  Whereof  you  must  foresee  that 
one  of  them  be  for  an  infirmary,^  if  the  prince  or 
any  special  person  should  be  sick,  with  chambers,  bed- 

1  ad  planum  cedificii,  et  minime  protuberantes. 

2  ducB  scilicet  ex  utroque  latere  areas. 

3  hortoper  exterius  circumcincta. 

4  latiis  transversum. 

6  curandum  vero  vi  aliqtcce,  tarn  ex  cameris  et  conclavUms,  quam  ex  porti- 
cibtis,  designentur  ad  usum  infirmorum. 


234  OF  BUILDING. 

cliamber,  antecamera,  and  recamera,  joining  to  it.^ 
This  upon  the  second  story.  Upon  the  ground  story ,2 
a  fair  gallery,  open,  upon  pillars ;  and  upon  the  third 
story  likewise,  an  open  gallery,^  upon  pillars,  to  take 
the  prospect  and  freshness  of  the  garden.  At  both 
corners  of  the  further  side,  by  way  of  return,*  let 
there  be  two  delicate  or  rich  cabinets,  daintily  paved, 
richly  hanged,  glazed  with  crystalline  glass,  and  a  rich 
cupola  in  the  midst ;  and  all  other  elegancy  that  may 
be  thought  upon.^  In  the  upper  gallery  too,  I  wish 
that  there  may  be,  if  the  place  will  yield  it,  some  foun- 
tains running  in  divers  places  from  the  wall,  with  some 
fine  avoidances.^  And  thus  much  for  the  model  of  the 
palace ;  ^  save  that  you  must  have,  before  you  come  to 
the  front,  three  courts.  A  green  court  plain,  with  a 
wall  about  it ;  ^  a  second  court  of  the  same,  but  more 
garnished,  with  little  turrets,  or  rather  embellishments, 
upon  the  wall ;  and  a  third  court,  to  make  a  square 
with  the  front,  but  not  to  be  built,  nor  yet  enclosed 
with  a  naked  wall,  but  enclosed  with  tarrasses,  leaded 
aloft,   and  fairly  garnished,  on  the  three  sides ;    and 

1  Haheant  autem  porfiones  singulce  cegris  destinatce,  {ut  moderni  loquuntur) 
Ante-Cameram,  Cameram  ad  cubtle,  et  Re-cameram. 

2  At  latus  transversum  solarii  inferians,  versus  hortum  convertatur  in  por- 
ticum,  spatiosum,  &c. 

8  Rursus  supra  solarium  tertium,  ex  omnibus  tribus  lateribus,  statuantur 
porticus  elegantes,  &c. 

4  ad  angulos  duos  lateris  transverd  in  solaria  secundo. 

5  Sini  autem  conclavia  ilia  rebus  curiosis  omnigenis  et  spectatu  dignis  re- 
ferta. 

6  qui  per  secretos  tvbos  iterum  transeant.  The  following  sentence  is  in- 
serted here  in  the  translation :  Inteiior  autem  pars  in  solaria  superiore, 
versus  aream,  formetur  in  porticus  et  ambulacra,  bene  munita  et  obducta,  ad 
usum  convalescentium. 

7  The  translation  adds:  nam  de  balneis  etptscinis  nrni  loqiuyr. 

8  Area  viindis,  gramine  vestita,  cum  pariete  in  circuitu,  et  juxta  pametem 
arboribus,  ordine  positis,  sata. 


OF  GARDENS.  235 

cloistered  on  the  inside,  with  pillars,  and  not  with 
arches  below.^  As  for  offices,  let  them  stand  at  dis- 
tance, with  some  low  galleries,  to  pass  from  them  to 
the  place  itself. 


XLVI.    Of  Gardens. 

God  Almighty  first  planted  a  Garden.  And  in- 
deed it  is  the  purest  of  human  pleasures.  It  is  the 
greatest  refreshment  to  the  spirits  of  man  ;  without 
which  buildings  and  palaces  are  but  gross  handy- 
works  :  2  and  a  man  shall  ever  see  that  when  ages 
grow  to  civility  and  elegancy,  men  come  to  build 
stately  sooner  than  to  garden  finely ;  ^  as  if  gardening 
were  the  greater  perfection.  I  do  hold  it,  in  the  royal 
ordering  of  gardens,  there  ought  to  be  gardens  for  all 
the  months  in  the  year ;  in  which  severally  things  of 
beauty  may  be  then  in  season.*  For  December,  and 
January,  and  the  latter  part  of  November,  you  must 
take  such  things  as  are  green  all  w^inter :  ^  holly  ;  ivy  ; 

1  sed  ambulacris  supra  columnas,  non  arcus,  erectis;  in  summitate  vero 
plumbo  vel  lapide  quadrato  coopertis,  et  ad  latera  elegantibus  statuis  parvis, 
CBnei  colans,  munitis  clausam. 

2  manus  tantum  sunt  opera,  nee  sripiunt  naturam. 

8  ciiius  pervenire  ad  cedificiorum  pulchritudinem  quam  ad  hortorum  elegan- 
tiam  et  amoenitatem. 

*  in  quibus  separntim  plantce  quoe  illo  mense  Jtorent  et  vigent  p)'oducantur. 
The  scene  in  the  "Winter's  Tale,"  where  Perdita  presents  the  guests  with 
flowers  suited  to  their  ages,  has  some  expressions  which,  if  this  Essay  had 
been  contained  in  the  earlier  edition,  would  have  made  me  suspect  that 
Shakespeare  had  been  reading  it.  As  I  am  not  aware  that  the  resemblance 
has  been  observed,  I  will  quote  the  passages  to  which  I  allude  in  connexion 
with  those  which  remind  me  of  them. 

5  Reverend  Sirs, 

For  you  there's  Rosemary  and  Rue ;  these  keep 
Seeming  and  savour  all  the  winter  long. 
Grace  and  Remembrance  be  to  you  both, 
And  welcome  to  our  shearing. 


236  OF  GARDENS. 

bays  ;  juniper ;  cypress-trees  ;  yew ;  pine-apple-trees  ;  ^ 
fir-trees ;  rosemary ;  lavender ;  periwinkle,  the  white, 
the  purple,  and  the  blue ;  germander ;  flags ;  ^  orange- 
trees  ;  lemon-trees ;  and  myrtles,  if  they  be  stored ;  and 
sweet  marjoram,  warm  set.^  There  followeth,  for  the 
latter  part  of  January  and  February,  the  mezereon- 
tree,  which  then  blossoms ;  crocus  vernus,  both  the  yel- 
low and  the  grey  ;  primroses ;  anemones  ;  the  early 
tulippa  ;  hyacinthus  orientalis  ;  chamairis  ;  fritellaria. 
For  March,  there  come  violets,  specially  the  single 
blue,  which  are  the  earliest ;  the  yellow  daffodil ;  *  the 
daisy ;  the  almond-tree  in  blossom ;  the  peach-tree  in 
blossom  ;  the  cornelian-tree  in  blossom ;  sweet-briar. 
In  April  follow,  the  double  white  violet ;  the  wall- 
flower ;  the  stock-gilliflower ;  the  cowshp ;  flower-de- 
lices,  and  lilies  of  all  natures  ;  ^  rosemary-flowers  ;  the 
tulippa ;    the  double  piony  ;    the  pale  daffodil ;  ^   the 


Pol.  Shepherdess, 

(A  fair  one  are  you)  well  you  fit  our  ages 
With  flowers  of  winter. 

1  In  place  of  "  piue-apple-trees,"  the  translation  has  buxtis,  piiius,  abies. 

2  Irides  quoad  folia. 

^  jvjcta  parietem  et  versus  solem  satus. 
^  psevdo-narcissus  luteits. 

5  Now,  my  fair'st  friend, 

I  would  I  had  some  flowers  o'  the  Spring,  that  might 

Become  your  time  of  day  .... 

Dafibdils, 

That  come  before  the  swallow  dares,  and  take 

The  winds  of  March  with  beauty:  Violets  (dim 

But  sweeter  than  the  lids  of  Juno's  eyes, 

Or  Cj'therea's  breath):  pale  Prime-roses, 

That  die  unmarried,  ere  they  can  behold 

Bright  Phoebus  in  his  strength  .... 

bold  Oxlips,  and 

The  Crown  Imperial:  Lilies  of  all  kinds, 

(The  Flower-de-Luce  being  one). 
«  narcisstis  verus. 


OF  GARDENS.  237 

French  honeysuckle;  the  cherry-tree  in  blossom;  the 
dammasin  and  plum-trees  in  blossom ;  the  white  thorn 
in  leaf;  the  lilac-tree.  In  May  and  June  come  pinks 
of  all  sorts,  specially  the  blush-pink  ;  roses  of  all  kinds, 
except  the  musk,  which  comes  later ;  honeysuckles  ; 
strawberries ;  bugloss  ;  columbine  ;  the  French  mari- 
gold ;  flos  Africanus ;  ^  cherry-tree  in  fruit ;  ribes  ; 
figs  in  fruit ;  rasps  ;  vine-flowers  ;  lavender  in  flowers ; 
the  sweet  satyrian,  with  the  white  flowers ;  herba  mus- 
caria ;  lilium  convallium  ;  the  apple-tree  in  blossom.^ 
In  July  come  gilliflowers  of  all  varieties;^  musk-roses; 
the  lime-tree  in  blossom ;  early  pears  and  plums  in 
fruit ;  genitings,  quadlins.  In  August  come  plums  of 
all  sorts  in  fruit ;  pears  ;  apricocks ;  berberries  ;  fil- 
berds  ;  musk-melons ;  monks-hoods,  of  all  colours.  In 
September  come  grapes  ;  apples ;  poppies  of  all  col- 
ours ;  peaches  ;  melocotones  ;  nectarines  ;  cornelians  ; 
wardens ;  quinces.  In  October  and  the  beginning  of 
November  come  services ;  medlars ;  bullaces  ;  roses 
cut  or  removed  to  come  late ;  holly-oaks ;  and  such 
like.  These  particulars  are  for  the  climate  of  London ; 
but  my  meaning  is  perceived,  that  you  may  have  ver 
jperpetuum,  as  the  place  affords. 

1  Flos  Africanus,  simplex  et  multiplex.    The  "  French  Marigold  "  is  omit- 
ted in  the  translation. 

2  The  translation  adds;  jlos  cyaneus:  [the  corn-cockle]. 

*  Sir,  the  year  growing  ancient, 

Not  yet  on  Summer's  death,  nor  on  the  birth 
Of  trembling  "Winter,  the  fairest  flowers  o'  the  season 
Are  our  Carnations  and  streaked  Gilly-vors 
(Which  some  call  Nature's  bastards)  .... 

Here's  flowers  for  you: 
Hot  Lavender,  Mints,  Savory,  Marjoram, 
The  Marj^-gold,  that  goes  to  bed  wi'  the  Sun, 
And  with  him  rises,  weeping :  These  are  flowers 
Of  middle  Summer,  and  I  think  they  are  given 
To  men  of  middle  age. 


238  OF   GARDENS. 

And  because  the  breath  of  flowers  is  far  sweeter  in 
the  air  (where  it  comes  and  goes  Uke  the  warbling  of 
music)  than  in  the  hand,  therefore  nothing  is  more  fit 
for  that  dehght,  than  to  know  what  be  the  flowers  and 
plants  that  do  best  perfume  the  air.^  Roses,  damask 
and  red,2  are  fast  flowers  of  their  smells ;  so  that  you 
may  walk  by  a  whole  row  of  them,  and  find  nothing 
of  their  sweetness  ;  yea  though  it  be  in  a  morning's 
dew.  Bays  likewise  yield  no  smell  as  they  grow. 
Rosemary  little  ;  nor  sweet  marjoram.  That  which 
above  all  others  yields  the  sweetest  smell  in  the  air,^ 
is  the  violet,  specially  the  white  double  violet,  which 
comes  twice  a  year ;  about  the  middle  of  April,  and 
about  Bartholomew-tide.*  Next  to  that  is  the  musk- 
rose.  Then  the  strawberry-leaves  dying,  with  a  most 
excellent  cordial  smell.^  Then  the  flower  of  the  vines; 
it  is  a  little  dust,  like  the  dust  of  a  bent,^  which  grows 
upon  the  cluster  in  the  first  coming  forth.  Then 
sweet-briar.  Then  wall-flowers,  which  are  very  de- 
lightful to  be  set  under  a  parlour  or  lower  chamber 
window.  Then  pinks  and  gilliflowers,"  specially  the 
matted  pink  and  clove  gilliflower.  Then  the  flowers 
of  the  lime-tree.  Then  the  honeysuckles,  so  they  be 
somewhat    afar   off".^      Of   bean-flowers   I   speak    not, 

1  qiwe  adhuc  crescentes,  nee  avulsce,  maxime  emittunt  auras  suaves,  et  aerem 
odore  perfundunt. 

2  tampallldce  quam  rubece. 

8  suavissimo  odore  (crescens)  imbuii. 

4  svbjinem  Augusti. 

6  So  Ed.  1639.  The  original  has  "which  a  most  excellent  cordial  smell." 
Possibly  it  should  be  which  yield.  The  translation  has  qiue  halitum  emittunt 
plane  cardiacum. 

6  qualis  est  in  caule  plantaginis. 

'  The  British  Museum  copy  (see  note  at  the  end)  omits  and  gillijlowers. 
The  translation  has  turn  cariophyllatai  tarn  minores  quam  majores. 

8  The  translation  adds  tumflores  lavendulce. 


OF  GARDENS.  239 

because  they  are  field  flowers.  But  those  which  per- 
fume the  air  most  dehghtfully,  not  passed  by  as  the 
rest,  but  being  trodden  upon  and  crushed,  are  three; 
that  is,  burnet,  wild-thyme,  and  watermints.  There- 
fore you  are  to  set  whole  alleys  of  them,  to  have  the 
pleasure  when  you  walk  or  tread. 

For  gardens  (speaking  of  those  which  are  indeed 
prince-like,  as  we  have  done  of  buildings),  the  con- 
tents ought  not  well  to  be  under  thirty  acres  of 
ground ;  and  to  be  divided  into  tliree  parts ;  a  green 
ill  the  entrance ;  a  heath  or  desert  ^  in  the  going 
forth ;  and  the  main  garden  in  the  midst ;  besides 
alleys  on  both  sides.  And  I  like  well  that  four  acres 
of  ground  be  assigned  to  the  green ;  six  to  the  heath ; 
four  and  four  to  either  side ;  and  twelve  to  the  main 
garden.  The  green  hath  two  pleasures :  the  one,  be- 
cause nothing  is  more  pleasant  to  the  eye  than  green 
grass  kept  finely  shorn  ;  the  other,  because  it  will  give 
you  a  fair  alley  in  the  midst,  by  which  you  may  go  in 
front  upon  a  stately  hedge,  which  is  to  enclose  the 
garden.  But  because  the  alley  will  be  long,  and,  in 
great  heat  of  the  year  or  day,  you  ought  not  to  buy 
the  shade  in  the  garden  by  going  in  the  sun  thorough 
the  green,  therefore  you  are,  of  either  side  the  green, 
to  plant  a  covert  alley,  upon  carpenter's  work,  about 
twelve  foot  in  height,  by  which  you  may  go  in  shade 
into  the  garden.  As  for  the  making  of  knots  or  figures 
with  divers  coloured  earths,  that  they  may  lie  under 
the  windows  of  the  house  on  that  side  which  the  srar- 
den  stands,'-^  they  be  but  toys :  you  may  see  as  good 
sights  many  times  in  tarts.  The  garden  is  best  to  be 
square,  encompassed  on  all  the  four  sides  with  a  stately 

^fruticetum  she  eremum.  2  This  clause  is  omitted  in  the  translation. 


240  OF  GARDENS. 

arched  hedge.  The  arches  to  be  upon  pillars  of  car- 
penter's work,  of  some  ten  foot  high,  and  six  foot 
broad ;  and  the  spaces  between  of  the  same  dimension 
with  the  breadth  of  the  arch.  Over  the  arches  let 
there  be  an  entire  hedge  of  some  four  foot  high,  framed 
also  upon  carpenter's  work ;  and  upon  the  upper  hedge, 
over  every  arch,  a  little  turret,  with  a  belly,  enough  to 
receive  a  cage  of  birds  :  and  over  every  space  between 
the  arches  some  other  little  figure,  with  broad  plates 
of  round  coloured  glass  gilt,  for  the  sun  to  play  upon. 
But  this  hedge  I  intend  to  be  raised  upon  a  bank,  not 
steep,  but  gently  slope,  of  some  six  foot,  set  all  with 
flowers.  Also  I  understand,  that  this  square  of  the 
garden  should  not  be  the  whole  breadth  of  the  ground, 
but  to  leave  on  either  side  ground  enough  for  diversity 
of  side  alleys ;  unto  which  the  two  covert  alleys  of 
the  green  may  deliver  you.  But  there  must  be  no 
alleys  with  hedges  at  either  end  of  this  great  enclo- 
sure ;  not  at  the  hither  end,  for  letting  ^  your  pros- 
pect upon  this  fair  hedge  from  the  green ;  nor  at  the 
further  end,  for  letting  ^  your  prospect  from  the  hedge 
through  the  arches  upon  the  heath. 

For  the  ordering  of  the  ground  within  the  great 
hedge,  I  leave  it  to  variety  of  device ;  advising  nev- 
ertheless that  whatsoever  form  you  cast  it  into,  first,^ 

1  ne  .  .  .  impediat. 

2  «e  .  .  .  intercipiat. 

3  My  copy  of  Ed.  1625  has  a  comma  after  Jirst  and  no  comma  after  into. 
The  copy  in  the  British  Museum  has  a  comma  after  into,  and  no  comma 
after  frst.  So  also  Ed.  1639.  The  translation  has  qimcunque  ea  tandem 
sit,  nimis  curiosa  et  operosa  ne  sit.  I  suspect  that  the  direction  was  to  add 
the  second  comma  and  leave  the  first,  and  that  it  was  misunderstood,  or 
imperfectly  executed;  an  accident  which  may  easily  happen,  and  would 
account  for  the  occasional  introduction  of  a  change  which  could  not  have 
been  intended. 


OF  GARDENS.  241 

it  be  not  too  busy,  or  full  of  work.  Wherein  I,  for 
my  part,  do  not  like  images  cut  out  in  juniper  or  other 
garden  stuff;  they  be  for  children.  Little  low  hedges, 
round,  like  welts,^  with  some  pretty  pyramides,  I  like 
well ;  and  in  some  places,  fair  columns  upon  frames 
of  carpenter's  work.^  I  would  also  have  the  alleys 
spacious  and  fair.  You  may  have  closer  alleys  upon 
the  side  grounds,  but  none  in  the  main  garden.  I 
wish  also,  in  the  very  middle,  a  fair  mount,  with  three 
ascents,  and  alleys,^  enough  for  four  to  walk  abreast ; 
which  I  would  have  to  be  perfect  circles,  without  any 
bulwarks  or  embossments  ;  and  the  whole  mount  to 
be  thirty  foot  high  ;  and  some  fine  banqueting-house,* 
with  some  chimneys  neatly  cast,  and  without  too  much 
glass. 

For  fountains,  they  are  a  great  beauty  and  refresh- 
ment ;  but  pools  mar  all,^  and  make  the  garden  un- 
wholesome, and  full  of  flies  and  frogs.  Fountains  I 
intend  to  be  of  two  natures :  the  one  that  sprinkleth 
or  spouteth  water;  the  other  a  fair  receipt  of  water,^ 
of  some  thirty  or  forty  foot  square,  but  without  fish, 
or  slime,  or  mud.  For  the  first,  the  ornaments  of 
images  gilt,  or  of  marble,  which  are  in  use,  do  well : 
but  the  main  matter  is  so  to  convey  the  water,  as  it 
never  stay,'^  either  in  the  bowls  or  in  the  cistern ;  that 
the  water  be  never  by  rest  discoloured,  green  or  red  or 

1  instar  fimbriarum. 

2  Columnas  etiam,  et  pyramides  altos,  ex  opere  lignario,  in  aliquibus  locis 
sparsas,  sepibus  vestitas,  recipio. 

3  et  tribus  ambulacris. 

*  atque  in  vertice  domicellus  elegans  extruatur. 
6  sed  stagna  et  piscines  exnlent. 

6  unum  qui  aquam  salientem  verset  et  dispergat,  cum  crateribus  suis ;  alte- 
rum  nitidum  aqiuB  puree  receptaculum,  &c. 

7  ut  peipetuo  Jluat,  nee  consistat.  # 

VOL.  XII.  16 


242  OF  GARDENS. 

the  like ;  or  gather  any  mossiness  or  putrefaction.  Be- 
sides that,  it  is  to  be  cleansed  every  day  by  the  hand. 
Also  some  steps  up  to  it,  and  some  fine  pavement 
about  it,  doth  well.  As  for  the  other  kind  of  foun- 
tain, which  w^e  may  call  a  bathing  pool,  it  may  admit 
much  curiosity  ^  and  beauty ;  wherewith  we  will  not 
trouble  ourselves  ;  as,  that  the  bottom  be  finely  paved, 
and  with  images;  the  sides  likewise;  and  withal  em- 
bellished with  coloured  glass,  and  such  things  of  lustre ; 
encompassed  also  with  fine  rails  of  low  statua's.  But 
the  main  point  is  the  same  which  we  mentioned  in  the 
former  kind  of  fountain ;  which  is,  that  the  water  be 
in  perpetual  motion,  fed  by  a  water  higher  than  the 
pool,  and  delivered  into  it  by  fair  spouts,  and  then  dis- 
charged away  under  ground,  by  some  equality  of  bores, 
that  it  stay  little.^  And  for  fine  devices,  of  arching 
water  without  spilling,  and  making  it  rise  in  several 
forms  (of  feathers,  drinking  glasses,  canopies,  and  the 
like),  they  be  pretty  things  to  look  on,  but  nothing  to 
health  and  sweetness. 

For  the  heath,  which  was  the  third  part  of  our  plot, 
I  wish  it  to  be  framed,  as  much  as  may  be,  to  a  natural 
wildness.  Trees  I  would  have  none  in  it,^  but  some 
thickets  made  only  of  sweet-briar  and  honeysuckle, 
and  some  wild  vine  amongst ;  and  the  ground  set  with 

1  The  copy  in  the  British  Museum  has  a  semicolon  after  curiosity:  my 
copy  has  a  comma.  And  as  it  has  certainly  been  a  change  in  the  type,  and 
not  a  variety  in  the  impression  or  an  alteration  made  by  the  hand,  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  the  Museum  copy  was  a  proof  in  which  corrections 
were  afterwards  made. 

2  The  translation  adds  :  ut  maneat  limpida. 

8  The  translation  adds:  nisi  quod,  in  aliquibus  locis  erigi prcBcipio  arborum 
series,  quce  in  vertice  ambulacra  contineant,  ramis  arborum  cooperta,  cum 
fenestris.  Subjaceat  autem  pars  soli  Jloribus  odoris  suavis  abunde  consita, 
qui  auras  in  superius  exhalent ;  alias  fruticetum  apertum  esse  sine  arbonbus 
velim. 


OF  GARDENS.  243 

violets,  strawberries,^  and  primroses.  For  these  are 
sweet,  and  prosper  in  the  shade.  And  these  to  be  in 
the  heath,  here  and  there,  not  in  any  order.^  I  like 
also  little  heaps,  in  the  nature  of  mole-hills  (such  as 
are  in  wild  heaths),  to  be  set,  some  with  wild  thyme; 
some  with  pinks ;  some  with  germander,  that  gives  a 
good  flower  to  the  eye;  some  with  periwinkle;  some 
with  violets ;  some  with  strawberries  ;  some  with  cow- 
slips ;  some  with  daisies ;  some  with  red  roses ;  some 
with  lilium  con  vail  ium  ;  some  with  sweet-williams  red  ; 
some  with  bear's-foot :  ^  and  the  like  low  flowers,  beinor 
withal  sweet  and  sightly.  Part  of  which  heaps  are  to 
be  with  standards  of  little  bushes  pricked  upon  their 
top,  and  part  without.  The  standards  to  be  roses  ;  * 
juniper ;  holly ;  berberries ;  (but  here  and  there,  be- 
cause of  the  smell  of  their  blossom  ;  ^ )  red  currants ; 
gooseberry  ;  rosemary  ;  bays  ;  sweet-briar  ;  and  such 
like.  But  these  standards  to  be  kept  with  cutting, 
that  they  grow  not  out  of  course.^ 

For  the  side  grounds,  you  are  to  fill  them  with  va- 
riety of  alleys,  private,  to  give  a  full  shade,  some  of 
them,  wheresoever  the  sun  be.     You  are  to  frame  some 

1  fragis  prcecipue. 

2  Dnmeta  autem,  et  ambulacra  super  arbores^  spargi  volumus  ad  placitum, 
rum  in  ordine  aliquo  collocari. 

3  Helleboro  Jtore  purpurea. 

4  Pars  autem  cumuhrum  habeat  in  vertice  frutices ;  ea  sint  rosa,  &c. 

5  sed  hcec  ranor,  propter  odoris  gravitatem  dum  floret.  The  British  Mu- 
seum copy  has  a  semicolon  after  blossom  and  no  stop  after  berberries  (or 
beare-berries  as  it  is  spelt) :  my  copy  has  a  semicolon  after  beare-berries 
and  no  stop  after  blossom.  It  is  difficult  to  say  which  has  been  the  alter- 
ation ;  for  in  the  original  setting  of  the  type  room  for  a  semicolon  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  left  in  either  place.  Here  (as  before)  I  suspect  the  in- 
tention of  the  corrector  was  to  insert  the  first  without  removing  the  second. 
The  parenthesis  certainly  refers  to  the  berberry ;  the  blossom  of  which  has 
an  offensive  smell,  when  too  near. 

6  ne  deformiter  excrescant. 


244  OF  GARDENS. 

of  them  likewise  for  shelter,  that  when  the  wind  blows 
sharp,  you  may  walk  as  in  a  gallery.  And  those  alleys 
must  be  likewise  hedged  at  both  ends,  to  keep  out  the 
wind ;  and  these  closer  alleys  must  be  ever  finely  grav- 
elled, and  no  grass,  because  of  going  wet.  In  many 
of  these  alleys  likewise,  you  are  to  set  fruit-trees  of  all 
sorts ;  as  well  upon  the  walls  as  in  ranges.  And  this 
would  be  generally  observed,  that  the  borders  wherein 
you  plant  your  fruit-trees  be  fair  and  large,  and  low, 
and  not  steep  ;  ^  and  set  with  fine  flowers,  but  thin 
and  sparingly,  lest  they  deceive^  the  trees.  .  At  the 
end  of  both  the  side  grounds,  I  would  have  a  mount 
of  some  pretty  height,  leaving  the  wall  of  the  enclos- 
ure breast  high,  to  look  abroad  into  the  fields.^ 

For  the  main  garden,  I  do  not  deny  but  there  should 
be  some  fair  alleys  ranged  on  both  sides,  with  fruit- 
trees  ;  and  some  pretty  tufts  of  fruit-trees,  and  arbours 
with  seats,  set  in  some  decent  order ;  *  but  these  to  be 
by  no  means  set  too  thick ;  but  to  leave  the  main  gar- 
den so  as  it  be  not  close,  but  the  air  open  and  free. 
For  as  for  shade,  I  would  have  you  rest  upon  the  alleys 
of  the  side  grounds,  there  to  walk,  if  you  be  disposed, 
in  the  heat  of  the  year  or  day  ;  but  to  make  account 
that  the  main  garden  is  for  the  more  temperate  parts 
of  the  year ;  and  in  the  heat  of  summer,  for  the  morn- 
ing and  the  evening,  or  overcast  days. 

For  aviaries,  I  like  them  not,  except  they  be  of  that 

1  et  molliter  ascendens. 

2  succo  defrattdent. 

8  ad  talem  altitudinem  parietis  exterioris,  ut  in  monticello  stanti  in  agros 
pateat  prospectus. 

4  ambulacra  qucBdam^  eaque  minime  angvsta,  arboribus  fructiferis  utrinque 
consita.  Quin  et  arboreta  aliqua,  arborum  fructiferarum  prope  consitarum  ; 
et  umbracula  artificiosa  et  bella  cum  sedibus  ordine  eleganti  locata. 


OF  NEGOCIATING.  245 

largeness  as  they  may  be  turfed,  and  have  living  plants 
and  bushes  set  in  them ;  that  the  birds  may  have  more 
scope,  and  natural  nestling,^  and  that  no  foulness  ap- 
pear in  the  floor  of  the  aviary.^  So  I  have  made  a 
platform  of  a  princely  garden,  partly  by  precept,  partly 
by  drawing,  not  a  model,  but  some  general  lines  of  it;^ 
and  in  this  I  have  spared  for  no  cost.  But  it  is  nothing 
for  great  princes,  that  for  the  most  part  taking  advice 
with  workmen,*  with  no  less  cost  set  their  things  to- 
gether ;  ^  and  sometimes  add  statua's,  and  such  things, 
for  state  and  magnificence,  but  nothing  to  the  true 
pleasure  of  a  garden. 


XL VII.    Of  Negociating. 

It  is  generally  better  to  deal  by  speech  than  by  let- 
ter ;  and  by  the  mediation  of  a  third  than  by  a  man's 
self.  Letters  are  good,  when  a  man  w^ould  draw  an 
answer  by  letter  back  again  ;  or  when  it  may  serve  for 
a  man's  justification  afterwards  to  produce  his  own 
letter;  or  where  it  may  be  danger  to  be  interrupted, 
or  heard  by  pieces.  To  deal  in  person  is  good,  when 
a  man's  face  breedeth  regard,  as  commonly  with  in- 
feriors ;  or  in  tender  cases,^  where  a  man's  eye  upon 
the  countenance  of  him  with  whom  he  speaketh  may 


1  ut  aves  liberius  volitent,  et  se  per  diversa  oblectare  et  componere  possint. 

2  The  translation  adds :  Quantum  vero  ad  ambulacra  in  clivis  et  variis 
ascendbus  amoinis  conficienda^  ilia  Naturae  dona  sunt,  nee  vbique  extrui  pos- 
sunt ;  nos  autem  eaposuimus  quce  omni  loco  conveniunt. 

8  partim  modulo  generali,  sed  minime  accurate. 

■*  hortulanos. 

^  varia,  parum  cumjudicio,  componunt 

6  in  rebus  quas  extremis  tantum  digitis  tangere  convenit. 


246 


OF  NEGOCIATING. 


give  him  a  direction  how  far  to  go  ;  and  generally, 
where  a  man  will  reserve  to  himself  liberty  either  to 
disavow  or  to  expound.  In  choice  of  instruments,  it 
is  better  to  choose  men  of  a  plainer  sort,  that  are  like 
to  do  that  that  is  committed  to  them,  and  to  report 
back  again  faithfully  the  success,  than  those  that  are 
cunning  to  contrive  out  of  other  men's  business  some- 
what to  grace  themselves,  and  will  help  the  matter  in 
report  ^  for  satisfaction  sake.  Use  also  such  persons  as 
affect  the  business  wherein  they  are  employed ;  for  that 
quickeneth  much ;  and  such  as  are  fit  for  the  matter ; 
as  bold  men  for  expostulation,  fair-spoken  men  for  per- 
suasion, crafty  men  for  inquiry  and  observation,  fro- 
ward  and  absurd  men  for  business  that  doth  not  well 
bear  out  itself.^  Use  also  such  as  have  been  lucky,  and 
prevailed  before  in  things  wherein  you  have  employed 
them ;  for  that  breeds  confidence,  and  they  will  strive 
to  maintain  their  prescription.  It  is  better  to  sound  a 
person  with  whom  one  deals  afar  off,  than  to  fall  u])on 
the  point  at  first ;  except  you  mean  to  surprise  him  by 
some  short  question.  It  is  better  dealing  with  men  in 
appetite,  than  with  those  that  are  where  they  would  be. 
If  a  man  deal  with  another  upon  conditions,  the  start 
or  first  performance  is  all ;  ^  which  a  man  cannot  rea- 
sonably demand,  except  either  the  nature  of  the  thing 
be  such,  which  must  go  before ;  or  else  a  man  can  per- 
suade the  other  party  that  he  shall  still  need  him  in 
some  other  thing ;  or  else  that  he  be  counted  the  hon- 
ester  man.*     All  practice  °  is  to  discover,  or  to  work. 

1  ea  quae,  referent  verbis  emollient. 

2  qtuE  aliquid  iniqid  habeat. 

*  prima  velut  occupatio  autpossessio  votorum  mpradpuii  numerandcL 

*pro  homine  imprimis  integro  et  verace. 

^negotiaiio. 


OF  FOLLOWERS  AND  FRIENDS.  247 

Men  discover  themselves  in  trust,  in  passion,  at  una- 
wares, and  of  necessity,  when  they  would  have  some- 
what done  and  cannot  find  an  apt  pretext.  If  you 
would  work^  any  man,  you  must  either  know  his 
nature  and  fashions,  and  so  lead  him ;  or  his  ends,  and 
so  persuade  him  ;  or  his  weakness  and  disadvantages, 
and  so  awe  him ;  or  those  that  have  interest  in  him, 
and  so  govern  him.  In  dealing  with  cunning  persons, 
we  must  ever  consider  their  ends,  to  interpret  their 
speeches ;  and  it  is  good  to  say  little  to  them,  and  that 
w^hich  they  least  look  for.  In  all  negociations  of  diffi- 
culty, a  man  may  not  look  to  sow  and  reap  at  once ; 
but  must  prepare  business,  and  so  ripen  it  by  degrees. 


XL VIII.    Of  Followers  and  Friends. 

Costly  followers  are  not  to  be  liked ;  lest  while 
a  man  maketh  his  train  longer,  he  make  his  wings 
shorter.  I  reckon  to  be  costly,  not  them  alone  which 
charge  the  purse,  but  which  are  wearisome  and  impor- 
tune in  suits.  Ordinary  followers  ought  to  challenge 
no  higher  conditions  than  countenance,  recommenda- 
tion, and  protection  from  w^rongs.  Factious  followers 
are  worse  to  be  liked,  which  follow  not  upon  affection 
to  him  with  whom  they  range  themselves,  but  upon 
discontentment  conceived  against  some  other;  where- 
upon commonly  ensueth  that  ill  intelligence  that  we 
many  times  see  between  great  personages.  Likewise 
glorious  followers,  who  make  themselves  as  trumpets 
of  the  commendation  of  those  they  follow,  are  full  of 
inconvenience ;  for  they  taint  business  through  want  of 

1  si  quern  ad  nutumjingere  cupias,  ut  inde  efficias  aliquid. 


248 


OF  FOLLOWERS  AND  FRIENDS. 


secrecy ;  ^  and  they  export  honour  from  a  man,^  and 
make  him  a  return  in  envy.  There  is  a  kind  of  fol- 
lowers likewise  which  are  dangerous,  being  indeed 
espials ;  which  inquire  the  secrets  of  the  house,  and 
bear  tales  of  them  to  others.  Yet  such  men,  many 
times,  are  in  great  favour ;  for  they  are  officious,  and 
commonly  exchange  tales.  The  following  by  certain 
estates  of  men,  answerable  to  that  which  a  great  per- 
son himself  professeth,  (as  of  soldiers  to  him  that  hath 
been  employed  in  the  wars,  and  the  like,)  hath  ever 
been  a  thing  civil,^  and  well  taken  even  in  monarchies ; 
so  it  be  without  too  much  pomp  or  popularity.  But 
the  most  honourable  kind  of  following  is  to  be  followed 
as  one  that  apprehendeth  to  advance  virtue  and  desert* 
in  all  sorts  of  persons.  And  yet,  where  there  is  no 
eminent  odds  in  sufficiency,  it  is  better  to  take  with  the 
more  passable,  than  with  the  more  able.^  And  besides, 
to  speak  truth,  in  base  times  active  men  are  of  more 
use  than  virtuous.  It  is  true  that  in  government  it  is 
good  to  use  men  of  one  rank  equally  :  for  to  counte- 
nance some  extraordinarily,  is  to  make  them  insolent, 
and  the  rest  discontent ;  because  they  may  claim  a 
due.^  But  contrariwise,  in  favour,  to  use  men  with 
much  difference  and  election  is  good ;  for  it  maketh  the 
persons  preferred  more  thankful,  and  the  rest  more 
officious:    because  all  is  of  favour."     It  is  good  dis- 

^futilitate  sua. 

2  The  translation  inserts,  si  quis  vere  rem  reputet. 

^pro  re  decora  habitum  est. 

■*  ut  quis  patronum  se  profiteatur  eorum  qui  virtute  et  mentis  clarent. 

^prcBstat  mediocribus  patrocinan  quam  eminentioribus. 

6  quandoquidem  ordinis  paritas  cequas  gratice  conditiones  tanquam  ex  debito 
posdt. 

'  '  :jue  de  hoc  merito  conqueratur  quispiam,  quum  omnia  ex  gratia  non  ex 
debito  prodeant. 


OF  SUITORS.  249 

cretion  not  to  make  too  mucli  of  any  man  at  tlie  first ; 
because  one  cannot  hold  out  that  proportion.  To  be 
governed  (as  we  call  it)  by  one,  is  not  safe ;  for  it 
shews  softness,  and  gives  a  freedom  to  scandal  and  dis- 
reputation ;  for  those  that  would  not  censure  or  speak 
ill  of  a  man  immediately,  will  talk  more  boldly  of  those 
that  are  so  great  with  them,  and  thereby  wound  their 
honour.  Yet  to  be  distracted  with  many  is  worse  ;  for 
it  makes  men  to  be  of  the  last  impression,^  and  full  of 
change.  To  take  advice  of  some  few  friends  is  ever 
honourable ;  for  lookers-on  many  times  see  more  than 
gamesters;  and^  the  vale  best  discovereth  the  hill.  There 
is  little  friendship  in  the  world,  and  least  of  all  between 
equals,  which  was  wont  to  be  magnified.  That  that  is, 
is  between  superior  and  inferior,  whose  fortunes  may 
comprehend  the  one  the  other. 


XLIX.    Of  Suitors. 

Many  ill  matters  and  projects  are  undertaken  ;  and 
private  suits  do  putrefy  the  public  good.  Many  good 
matters  are  undertaken  with  bad  minds ;  I  mean  not 
only  corrupt  minds,  but  crafty  minds,  that  intend  not 
performance.  Some  embrace^  suits,  which  never  mean 
to  deal  effectually  in  them ;  but  if  they  see  there  may 
be  life  in  the  matter  by  some  other  mean,  they  will  be 
content  to  win  a  thank,  or  take  a  second  reward,  or 
at  least  to  make  use  in  the  mean  time  of  the  suitor's 
hopes.     Some  take  hold  of  suits  only  for  an  occasion  to 

'^postremce  (ut  nunc  loquuntur)  editionis.    Whence  it  would  appear  that  the 
metaphor  is  from  the  printing-press. 
2  atque  {ut  adagio  dicitur).  3  recipiunt  et  operant  avide  pollicentur. 


250  OF  SUITORS. 

cross  some  other  ;  or  to  make  an  information  ^  whereof 
thej  could  not  otherwise  have  apt  pretext ;  without 
care  what  become  of  the  suit  when  that  turn  is  served ; 
or,  generally,  to  make  other  men's  business  a  kind  of 
entertainment  to  bring  in  their  own.  Nay  some  under- 
take suits,  with  a  full  purpose  to  let  them  fall ;  to  the 
end  to  gratify  the  adverse  party  or  competitor.  Surely 
there  is  in  some  sort  a  right  in  every  suit;  either  a 
right  in  equity,  if  it  be  a  suit  of  controversy ;  or  a 
right  of  desert,  if  it  be  a  suit  of  petition.  If  affection 
lead  a  man  to  favour  the  wrong  side  in  justice,  let  him 
rather  use  his  countenance  to  compound  the  matter 
than  to  carry  it.  If  affection  lead  a  man  to  favour 
the  less  worthy  in  desert,  let  him  do  it  without  deprav- 
ing or  disabling  the  better  deserver.  In  suits  which  a 
man  doth  not  well  understand,  it  is  good  to  refer  them 
to  some  friend  of  trust  and  judgment,  that  may  report 
whether  he  may  deal  in  them  with  honour:  but  let  him 
choose  well  his  referendaries,  for  else  he  may  be  led  by 
the  nose.  Suitors  are  so  distasted  with  delays  and 
abuses,  that  plain  dealing  in  denying  to  deal  in  suits  at 
first,  and  reporting  the  success  barely,  and  in  challeng- 
ing no  more  thanks  than  one  hath  deserved,  is  grown 
not  only  honourable  but  also  gracious.  In  suits  of  fa- 
vour, the  first  coming  ought  to  take  little  place :  so  far 
forth  consideration  may  be  had  of  his  trust,^  that  if  in- 
telligence of  the  matter  could  not  otherwise  have  been 
had  but  by  him,  advantage  be  not  taken  of  the  note, 
but  the  party  left  to  his  other  means  ;  and  in  some  sort 
recompensed  for  his  discovery.^     To  be  ignorant  of  the 

1  ut  aliquid  obiter  deferant  et  informent. 

^Jides  in  re  ilia  patefacienda. 

8  hoc  eifraudi  non  sit,  sedpotius  remuneretur. 


OF  SUITORS.  251 

value  of  a  suit  is  simplicity ;  as  well  as  to  be  ignorant 
of  the  right  thereof  is  want  of  conscience.  Secrecy  in 
suits  is  a  great  mean  of  obtaining ;  for  voicing  them  to 
be  in  forwardness  may  discourage  some  kind  of  suitors, 
but  doth  quicken  and  awake  others.  But  timing  of  the 
suit  is  the  principal.  Timing,  I  say,  not  only  in  re- 
spect of  the  person  that  should  grant  it,  but  in  respect 
of  those  which  are  like  to  cross  it.  Let  a  man,  in  the 
choice  of  his  mean,  rather  choose  the  fittest  mean  than 
the  greatest  mean ;  and  rather  them  that  deal  in  cer- 
tain things,  than  those  that  are  general.^  The  repara- 
tion of  a  denial  is  sometimes  equal  to  the  first  grant ;  ^ 
if  a  man  shew  himself  neither  dejected  nor  discontented. 
Iniquum  petas  ut  cequum  feras^  [Ask  more  than  is  rea- 
sonable, that  you  may  get  no  less,]  is  a  good  rule, 
where  a  man  hath  strength  of  favour :  but  otherwise 
a  man  were  better  rise  in  his  suit ;  ^  for  he  that  would 
have  ventured  at  first  to  have  lost  the  suitor,  will  not 
in  the  conclusion  lose  both  the  suitor  and  his  own 
former  favour.  Nothing  is  thought  so  easy  a  request 
to  a  great  person,  as  his  letter ;  and  yet,  if  it  be  not 
in  a  good  cause,  it  is  so  much  out  of  his  reputation. 
There  are  no  worse  instruments*  than  these  general 
contrivers  of  suits ;  for  they  are  but  a  kind  of  poison 
and  infection  to  public  proceedings. 

1  atque  eum  potius  adhibe  qui  paucioribvs  negotiis  se  immiscet,  quam  qui 
omnia  complectitur. 

2  Denegatce  petitionis  iieratio  concessioni  ipsi  quandoque  cequipoUet 

6  gradibus  quibusdam  ad  id  quod  petis  ascender e,  et  aliquid  saltern  impe- 
irare. 
*  non  invenitur  in  rebuspubUds  perniciositis  hominum  genus. 


252  OF  STUDIES. 


L.   Op  Studies. 

Studies  serve  for  delight,  for  ornament,  and  for 
ability.^  Their  chief  use  for  delight,  is  in  privateness 
and  retiring ;  for  ornament,  is  in  discourse ;  ^  and  for 
ability,  is  in  the  judgment  and  disposition  of  business.^ 
For  expert  men  can  execute,  and  perhaps  judge  of 
particulars,  one  by  one ;  but  the  general  counsels,  and 
the  plots  and  marshalling  of  affairs,  come  best  from 
those  that  are  learned.  To  spend  too  much  time  in 
studies  is  sloth ;  *  to  use  them  too  much  for  ornament, 
is  affectation ;  ^  to  make  judgment  wholly  by  their 
rules,  is  the  humour  of  a  scholar.^  They  perfect  na- 
ture, and  are  perfected  by  experience :  for  natural 
abilities  are  like  natural  plants,  that  need  proyning"^ 
by  study ;  and  studies  themselves  do  give  forth  direc- 
tions too  much  at  large,  except  they  be  bounded  in  by 
experience.  Crafty  men  contemn  studies,  simple  men 
admire  them,  and  wise  men  use  them ;  for  they  teach 
not  their  own  use  ;  but  that  is  a  wisdom  without  them, 
and  above  them,  won  by  observation.  Read  not  to 
contradict  and  confute ;  nor  to  believe  and  take  for 
granted ;  nor  to  find  talk  and  discourse ;  but  to  weigh 
and  consider.^     Some  books  are  to  be  tasted,  others  to 

1  ant  meditationum  voluptati,  aut  orationis  ornamento,  aut  negoiiorum  sub- 
sidio. 

2  in  sermone  txim  familiari  quam  solemni, 

8  ut  accuratiore  judicio  res  et  suscipiantur  et  disponaniur. 

4  speciosa  qitcedam  socordia.  5  affectatio  mera  est  qtus  se  ipsam  prodit. 

6  de  rebus  aittem  ex  regulis  artis  jvdicare,  scholam  omnino  sapit,  nee  bene 
succedit. 

7  So  in  the  original.  Compare  Sylva  Sylvarum^  §  432. :  "  the  lower  boughs 
only  maintained,  and  the  higher  contmnaWj  proined  off:  "  and  again  §  823.: 
"many  birds  do praine  their  feathers:  "  from  which  I  suppose  that  it  is  not 
a  misprint,  but  another  form  of  the  word. 

8  sed  ut  addiscas,  ponder  es,  et  judicio  tuo  aliquatenus  utaris. 


OF  STUDIES.  253 

be  swallowed,^  and  some  few  to  be  chewed  and  di- 
gested; that  is,  some  books  are  to  be  read  only  in 
parts ;  others  to  be  read,  but  not  curiously ;  and  some 
few  to  be  read  wholly,  and  with  diligence  and  atten- 
tion. Some  books  also  may  be  read  by  deputy,  and  ex- 
tracts made  of  them  by  others ;  ^  but  that  would  be  only 
in  the  less  important  arguments,  and  the  meaner  sort 
of  books  ;  else  distilled  books  are  like  common  distilled 
waters,  flashy  things.^  Reading  maketh  a  full  man ; 
conference  a  ready  man ;  and  writing  an  exact  man.* 
And  therefore,  if  a  man  write  little,  he  had  need  have 
a  great  memory ;  if  he  confer  little,  he  had  need 
have  a  present  wit :  and  if  he  read  little,  he  had 
need  have  much  cunning,  to  seem  to  know  that  he 
doth  not.  Histories  make  men  wise  ;  poets  witty ;  the 
mathematics  subtile ;  natural  philosophy  deep ;  moral 
grave  ;^  logic  and  rhetoric  able  to  contend.^  Abeunt 
studia  in  mores.  [The  studies  pass  into  the  manners.] 
Nay  there  is  no  stond  or  impediment  in  the  wit,  but 
may  be  wrought  out  by  fit  studies  :  like  as  diseases  of 
the  body  may  have  appropriate  exercises.  Bowling  is 
good  for  the  stone  and  reins ;  shooting  for  the  lungs 
and  breast ;  gentle  walking  for  the  stomach  ;  riding  for 
head  ;  and  the  like.  So  if  a  man's  wit  be  wandering, 
let  him  study  the  mathematics ;  for  in  demonstrations, 
if  his  wit  be  called  away  never  so  little,  he  must  begin 
again.     If  his  wit  be  not  apt  to  distinguish  or  find 

1  qiios  deglutire  cursimque  legere  qportet. 

2  eorumque  compendia  tantum  desumere. 
^penitus  insipidi. 

4  scriptio  autem,  et  notarum  coUectio,  perlecta  in  animo  imprimit  et  altius 
jigU. 

6  gravitatem  qv^ndam  morum  conciliat. 

^  jpugnacem  reddit,  et  ad  contentiones  alacrem. 


254  OF  FACTION. 

differences,  let  him  study  the  schoolmen ;  for  they  are 
cymini  sector es^  [splitters  of  hairs.]  If  he  be  not  apt 
to  beat  over  matters,^  and  to  call  up  one  thing  to  prove 
and  illustrate  another,  let  him  study  the  lawyers'  cases. 
So  every  defect  of  the  mind  may  have  a  special  receipt. 


LI.    Of  Faction. 

Many  have  an  opinion  not  wise,  that  for  a  prince 
to  govern  his  estate,  or  for  a  great  person  to  govern 
his  proceedings,  according  to  the  respect  of  factions,  is 
a  principal  part  of  policy ;  whereas  contrariwise,  the 
chiefest  wisdom  is  either  in  ordering  those  things  which 
are  general,  and  wherein  men  of  several  factions  do 
nevertheless  agree ;  or  in  deahng  with  correspondence 
to  particular  persons,  one  by  one.^  But  I  say  not  that 
the  consideration  of  factions  is  to  be  neglected.  Mean 
men,  in  their  rising,  must  adhere ;  but  great  men,  that 
have  strength  in  themselves,^  were  better  to  maintain 
themselves  indifferent  and  neutral.  Yet  even  in  be- 
ginners, to  adhere  so  moderately,  as  he  be  a  man  of 
the  one  faction  which  is  most  passable  with  the  other, 
commonly  giveth  best  way.*  The  lower  and  weaker 
faction  is  the  firmer  in  conjunction ;  and  it  is  often  seen 
that  a  few  that  are  stiff  do  tire  out  a  greater  number 
that  are  more  moderate.  When  one  of  the  factions  is 
extinguished,  the  remaining  subdivideth ;  as  the  faction 

1  si  quis  ad  transcursus  ingenii  segnis  sit. 

2  in  palpandis,  concUiandis,  et  tractandis  singtiUs. 
^jampridem  honor  em  adeptis. 

4  ita  caute  adluerere,  ut  videatur  quis  alteri  ex  partibus  addictus,  et  tamen 
parti  adversce  minime  odiosus,  viam.  quandam  stemit  ad  honores  per  medium 
factionum. 


OF  FACTION.  255 

between  Lucullus  and  the  rest  of  the  nobles  of  the 
senate  (which  they  called  Optimates)  held  out  awhile 
against  the  faction  of  Pompey  and  Caesar ;  but  when 
the  senate's  authority  was  pulled  down,  Caesar  and 
Pompey  soon  after  brake.  The  faction  or  party  of 
Antonius  and  Octavianus  Caesar  against  Brutus  and 
Cassius,  held  out  likewise  for  a  time ;  but  when  Brutus 
and  Cassius  were  overthrown,  then  soon  after  Antonius 
and  Octavianus  brake  and  subdivided.  These  exam- 
ples are  of  wars,  but  the  same  holdeth  in  private  fac- 
tions. And  therefore  those  that  are  seconds  in  factions 
do  many  times,  when  the  faction  subdivideth,  prove 
principals ;  but  many  times  also  they  prove  cyphers 
and  cashiered  ;  for  many  a  man's  strength  is  in  opposi- 
tion ;  and  when  that  faileth  he  groweth  out  of  use.  It 
is  commonly  seen  that  men  once  placed  take  in  with 
the  contrary  faction  to  that  by  which  they  enter : 
thinking  belike  that  they  have  the  first  sure,  and  now 
are  ready  for  a  new  purchase.^  The  traitor  in  faction 
lightly  goeth  away  with  it;^  for  when  matters  have 
stuck  long  in  balancing,^  the  winning  of  some  one  man 
casteth  them,  and  he  getteth  all  the  thanks.  The  even 
carriage  between  two  factions  proceedeth  not  always  of 
moderation,  but  of  a  trueness  to  a  man's  self,  with  end 
to  make  use  of  both."*  Certainly  in  Italy  they  hold  it 
a  little  suspect  in  popes,  when  they  have  often  in  their 
mouth  Padre  commune :  ^  and  take  it  to  be  a  sign  of 

1  ad  novos  amicos  conciliandos  se  comparare. 
^plerumque  rem  obtinet. 
8  tanquam  in  cequilibrio. 

4  sed  ex  consilio  callido,  quandoquidem  proximus  sibi  qidsque  sit,  atque  esc 
tUrdque  factione  utilitatem  demetere  speret. 

5  in  suspicionem  incurrit  Papa,  de  qvo  vox  iUa  in  xndgus  volitat,  Padre 
Commune. 


256  OF  CEREMONIES   AND  RESPECTS. 

one  that  meaneth  to  refer  all  to  the  greatness  of  his 
own  house.  Kings  had  need  beware  how  they  side 
themselves,  and  make  themselves  as  of  a  faction  or 
party ;  for  leagues  within  the  state  are  ever  pernicious 
to  monarcliies :  for  they  raise  an  obligation  paramount 
to  obligation  of  sovereignty,  and  make  the  king  tan- 
quam  unus  ex  nobis  [like  one  of  themselves]  ;  as  was 
to  be  seen  in  the  League  of  France.  When  factions 
are  carried  too  high  and  too  violently,^  it  is  a  sign  of 
weakness  in  princes ;  and  much  to  the  prejudice  both 
of  their  authority  and  business.  The  motions  of  fac- 
tions under  kings  ought  to  be  like  the  motions  (as  the 
astronomers  speak)  of  the  inferior  orbs,  which  may 
have  their  proper  motions,  but  yet  still  are  quietly 
carried  by  the  higher  motion  of  primum  mobile. 


LII.    Of  Ceremonies  and  Respects.^ 

He  that  is  only  real,  had  need  have  exceeding  great 
parts  of  virtue ;  as  the  stone  had  need  to  be  rich  that 
is  set  without  foil.^  But  if  a  man  mark  it  well,  it  is 
in  praise  and  commendation  of  men  as  it  is  in  gettings 
and  gains :  for  the  proverb  is  true.  That  light  gains 
make  heavy  purses  ;  for  light  gains  come  thick,  where- 
as great  come  but  now  and  then.  So  it  is  true  that 
small  matters  ^  win  great  commendation,  because  they 
are  continually  in  use  and  in  note :  whereas  the  occa- 
sion  of  any   great   virtue   cometh    but   on   festivals.^ 

1  cumfactiones  manuforti  etpalam  concertant. 

2  De  Cceremoniis  Civilibus,  et  Decoro. 
8  sine  ornamento  omni. 

*  exigiux  virtutes. 

5  raro  admodum  obtingit. 


OF   CEREMONIES   AND   RESPECTS.  257 

Therefore  it  doth  much  add  to  a  man's  reputation,  and 
is  (as  queen  Isabella  ^  said)  like  perpetual  letters  commen- 
datory^ to  have  good  forms.  To  attain  them  it  almost 
sufficeth  not  to  despise  them ;  for  so  shall  a  man  ob- 
serve them  in  others ;  and  let  him  trust  himself  with 
the  rest.  For  if  he  labour  too  much  to  express  them, 
he  shall  lose  their  grace ;  which  is  to  be  natural  and 
unaffected.  Some  men's  behaviour^  is  like  a  verse, 
wherein  every  syllable  is  measured;  how  can  a  man 
comprehend  great  matters,  that  breaketh  his  mind  too 
much  to  small  observations  ?  Not  to  use  ceremonies  at 
all,  is  to  teach  others  not  to  use  them  again ;  and  so 
diminisheth  respect  to  himself;  especially  they  be  not 
to  be  omitted  to  strangers  and  formal  natures ;  but 
the  dwelling  upon  them,  and  exalting  them  above  the 
moon,^  is  not  only  tedious,  but  doth  diminish  the  faith 
and  credit  of  him  that  speaks.*  And  certainly  there 
is  a  kind  of  conveying  of  effectual  and  imprinting 
passages  amongst  compliments,^  which  is  of  singular 
use,  if  a  man  can  hit  upon  it.  Amongst  a  man's  peers 
a  man  shall  be  sure  of  familiarity ;  and  therefore  it  is 
good  a  little  to  keep  state.  Amongst  a  man's  inferiors 
one  shall  be  sure  of  reverence ;  and  therefore  it  is  good 
a  little  to  be  familiar.  He  that  is  too  much  in  any- 
thing, so  that  he  giveth  another  occasion  of  satiety, 
maketh  himself  cheap.  To  apply  one's  self  to  others 
is  good ;  so  it  be  with  demonstration  that  a  man  doth 
it  upon  regard,^  and  not  upon  facility.     It  is  a  good 

1  Isabella,  regina  Castiliana.  2  vultus  et  gestus  et  externa  alia. 

8  locutio  hyperbolica  {quali  nonnuUi  utuntur). 

4  etpondus  eorum  qucB  dicuntur. 

5  modus  artificiosce  cujusdam  insinuationis,  in  verbis  ipsis,  inter  formulas 
communes,  qui  homines  revera  inescat  et  mirifice  afficit. 

6  ex  comitate  et  urbanitate. 

VOL.  XII.  17 


258 


OF  PRAISE. 


precept  generally  in  seconding  another,  yet  to  add 
somewhat  of  one's  own :  as  if  you  will  grant  his  opin- 
ion, let  it  be  with  some  distinction ;  if  you  will  follow 
his  motion,  let  it  be  with  condition  ;  if  you  allow  his 
counsel,  let  it  be  with  alleging  further  reason.  Men 
had  need  beware  how  they  be  too  perfect  in  compli- 
ments ;  ^  for  be  they  never  so  sufficient  otherwise,  their 
enviers  will  be  sure  to  give  them  that  attribute,^  to  the 
disadvantage  of  their  greater  virtues.  It  is  loss  also  in 
business  to  be  too  full  of  respects,  or  to  be  curious  in 
observing  times  and  opportunities.  Salomon  saith,  He 
that  considereth  the  wind  shall  not  sow^  and  he  that  looJc- 
eth  to  the  clouds  shall  not  reap.  A  wise  man  will  make 
more  opportunities  than  he  finds.  Men's  behaviour 
should  be  like  their  apparel,  not  too  strait  or  point 
device,  but  free  for  exercise  or  motion. 


LIII.    Of  Praise. 

Praise  is  the  reflexion  of  virtue.  But  it  is  as  the 
glass  or  body  which  giveth  the  reflexion.^  If  it  be 
from  the  common  people,  it  is  commonly  false  and 
naught ;  and  rather  followeth  vain  persons  than  vir- 
tuous. For  the  common  people  understand  not  many 
excellent  virtues.  The  lowest  virtues  draw  praise  from 
them ;  the  middle  virtues  work  in  them  astonishment 
or  admiration  ;  but  of  the  highest  virtues  they  have  no 
sense  of  perceiving  at  all.     But  shews,  and  species  vir- 

1  cceremoniis  etformulis. 

2  audies  tamen  ab  invidis,  in  nominis  tui  detrimentum^  urbanus  tantum  et 
affectator. 

3  atque  ut  Jit  in  speciUis,  trahit  aliquid  e  natura  corporis  quod  reflexionem 
preset. 


OF  PRAISE.  259 

tutihus  similes^  serve  best  with  them.  Certainly  fame  is 
like  a  river,  that  beareth  up  things  light  and  swoln,  and 
drowns  things  weighty  and  solid.  But  if  persons  of 
quality  and  judgment  concur,^  then  it  is  (as  the  Scrip- 
ture saith),  Nomen  bonum  instar  unguenti  fragrantis ; 
[a  good  name  hke  unto  a  sweet  ointment.]  It  filleth 
all  round  about,  and  will  not  easily  away.  For  the 
odours  of  ointments  are  more  durable  than  those  of 
flowers.  There  be  so  many  false  points  ^  of  praise, 
that  a  man  may  justly  hold  it  a  suspect.  Some  praises 
proceed  merely  of  flattery ;  and  if  he  be  an  ordinary 
flatterer,  he  will  have  certain  common  attributes,  which 
may  serve  every  man ;  if  he  be  a  cunning  flatterer,  he 
will  follow  the  arch-flatterer,  which  is  a  man's  self; 
and  wherein  a  man  thinketh  best  of  himself,  therein 
the  flatterer  will  uphold  him  most ;  but  if  he  be  an  im- 
pudent flatterer,  look  wherein  a  man  is  conscious  to 
himself  that  he  is  most  defective,  and  is  most  out  of 
countenance  in  himself,  that  will  the  flatterer  entitle 
him  to  perforce,  spretd  conscientid.  Some  praises  come 
of  good  wishes  and  respects,^  which  is  a  form  due  in 
civility  to  kings  and  great  persons,  laudando  prceeipere  ; 
when  by  telling  men  what  they  are,  they  represent*  to 
them  what  they  should  be.  Some  men  are  praised 
maliciously  to  their  hurt,  thereby  to  stir  envy  and  jeal- 
ousy towards  them ;  pessimum  genus  inimicorum  lai/n 
dantium ;  [the  worst  kind  of  enemies  are  they  that 
praise ;  ]  insomuch  as  it  was  a  proverb  amongst  the 
Grecians,  that  he  that  was  praised  to  his  hurt,  should 


1  cum  vulgo  concurrunt. 

2  conditixmes  fallaces. 

8  a  volwntate  band  cum  reverentid  conjuncta  prqfidscuntur. 
*  humiliter  moneas. 


260 


OF   VAIN-GLORY. 


liave  a  push  rise  upon  his  nose  ;  as  we  say,  that  a  blister 
will  rise  upon  one^s  tongue  that  tells  a  lie.  Certainly- 
moderate  praise,  used  with  opportunity,^  and  not  vul- 
gar, is  that  which  doth  the  good.^  Salomon  saith.  He 
that  praiseth  his  friend  aloud,  rising  early,  it  shall  he  to 
him  no  better  than  a  curse.  Too  much  magnifying  of 
man  or  matter  doth  irritate  contradiction,  and  procure 
envy  and  scorn.  To  praise  a  man's  self  cannot  be 
decent,  except  it  be  in  rare  cases ;  but  to  praise  a 
man's  office  or  profession,  he  may  do  it  with  good 
grace,  and  with  a  kind  of  magnanimity.  The  Cardi- 
nals of  Rome,  which  are  theologues,  and  friars,  and 
schoolmen,  have  a  phrase  of  notable  contempt  and 
scorn  towards  civil  business :  for  they  call  all  temporal 
business  of  wars,  embassages,  judicature,  and  other  em- 
plo}Tnents,  sbirrerie,  which  is  under-sheriffries ;  as  if 
they  w^ere  but  matters  for  under-sheriffs  and  catch- 
poles  :  though  many  times  those  under-sheriifries  do 
more  good  than  their  high  speculations.^  St.  Paul, 
when  he  boasts  of  himself,  he  doth  oft  interlace,  / 
speak  like  a  fool;  but  speaking  of  his  calling,  he  saith, 
magnificabo  apostolatum  meum  :  [I  will  magnify  my 
mission.] 


LIV.    Of  Vain-Glory. 

It  was  prettily  devised  of  ^sop ;  the  fly  sat  upon  the 
axle-tree  of  the  chariot  wheel,  and  said,  What  a  dust  do 
I  raise!    So  are  there  some  vain  persons,  that  whatso- 

1  tempestive  irrogatos. 

2  honoH  vel  maxime  esse. 

^  ac  si  artes  illm  memoratce  magis  ejusmodi  homines,  quam  in  fastigio  Car- 
dinalatus  positos,  decerent :  et  tamen  {si  res  rite  penderetur)  speculativa  cum 
civiWbus  mm  male  miscentur. 


OF  VAIN-GLORY.  261 

ever  goetli  alone  or  moveth  upon  greater  means/  if 
they  have  never  so  little  hand  in  it,  they  think  it  is 
they  that  carry  it.  They  that  are  glorious  must  needs 
be  factious ;  for  all  bravery  stands  upon  comparisons.^ 
They  must  needs  be  violent,  to  make  good  their  own 
vaunts.  Neither  can  they  be  secret,  and  therefore  not 
effectual ;  ^  but  according  to  the  French  proverb,  Beau- 
coup  de  hruit^  pen  de  fruit;  Much  bruit,  little  fruit. 
Yet  certainly  there  is  use  of  this  quality  *  in  civil  af- 
fairs. Where  there  is  an  opinion  and  fame  to  be  cre- 
ated either  of  virtue  or  greatness,  these  men  are  good 
trumpeters.  Again,  as  Titus  Livius  noteth  in  the  case 
of  Antiochus  and  the  ^tolians.  There  are  sometimes 
great  effects  of  cross  lies  ;  ^  as  if  a  man  that  negociates 
between  two  princes,  to  draw  them  to  join  in  a  war 
against  the  third,  doth  extol  the  forces  of  either  of  them 
above  measure,  the  one  to  the  other:  and  sometimes 
he  that  deals  between  man  and  man,  raiseth  his  own 
credit  with  both,  by  pretending  greater  interest  than 
he  hath  in  either.  And  in  these  and  the  like  kinds,  it 
often  falls  out  that  somewhat  is  produced  of  nothing ; 
for  lies  are  sufficient  to  breed  opinion,  and  opinion 
brings  on  substance.  In  miHtar^  commanders  and 
soldiers,  vain-glory  is  an  essential  point ;  '^  for  as  iron 
sharpens  iron,  so  by  glory  one  courage  sharpeneth  an- 
other.    In  cases  of  great  enterprise  upon  charge  and 


1  cum  aliquid  vel  sponte  procedit,  vel  nianu  j)otentiore  cietur. 

2  nulla  ostentatio  sine  comparatione  sui  est, 
8  ideoqjie  opere  utplurimum  destituuntur. 
4  hujusmodi  ingeniis. 

6  mendacia  reciproca,  et  ex  utrdque  parte. 

6  So  in  the  original.    It  is  the  form  of  the  word  which  Bacon  always 
(I  believe)  uses. 

7  non  inutile  est. 


262 


OF  VAIN-GLORY. 


adventure,^  a  composition  of  glorious  natures  doth  put 
life  into  business ;  and  those  that  are  of  solid  and  sober 
natures  have  more  of  the  ballast  than  of  the  sail.  In 
fame  of  learning,  the  flight  will  be  slow  without  some 
feathers  of  ostentation.  Qui  de  contemnendd  gloHd 
lihros  scribunt,  nomen  suum  inscribunt  [They  that 
write  books  on  the  worthlessness  of  glory,  take  care  to 
put  their  names  on  the  title  page.]  Socrates,  Aris- 
totle, Galen,  were  men  fiill  of  ostentation  .^  Certainly 
vain-glory  helpeth  to  perpetuate  a  man's  memory ;  and 
virtue  was  never  so  beholding  to  human  nature,  as  it 
received  his  due  at  the  second  hand.^  Neither  had  the 
fame  of  Cicero,  Seneca,  Plinius  Secundus,  borne  her 
age  so  well,*  if  it  had  not  been  joined  with  some  van- 
ity ^  in  themselves ;  like  unto  varnish,  that  makes  ceil- 
ings not  only  shine  but  last.  But  all  this  while,  when 
I  speak  of  vain-glory,  I  mean  not  of  that  property  that 
Tacitus  doth  attribute  to  Mucianus  ;  Omnium,  quee 
dixerat  feceratque,  arte  quddam  ostentator  :  [A  man 
that  had  a  kind  of  art  of  setting  forth  to  advantage  all 
that  he  had  said  or  done :]  for  that  proceeds  not  of 
vanity,  but  of  natural  magnanimity  and  discretion ;  ^ 
and  in  some  persons  ^  is  not  only  comely,  but  gracious. 
For  excusations,  cessions,  modesty  itself  well  governed, 
are  but  arts  of  ostentation.  And  amongst  those  arts 
there  is  none  better  than  that  which  Plinius  Secundus 


1  qtus  sumptibtis  et  periculo  privatomm  suscipiwrUur. 

2  {magna  nomina)  ingenio  jactabundo  erant. 

8  Neque  virtus  ipsa  tantum  humance  natures  debet  propter  nominis  sui  cele- 
hrationem,  quam  sibi  ipsi. 
4  ad  hunc  usque  diem  vix  durasset,  aut  saltern  non  tarn  vegeta. 
8  vanitate  etjactantid. 

6  ex  arte  et  prudentid,  cum  magnanimitate  quddam  conjunctd. 
f  in  aliquibus  hominibus  qui  naturd  veluti  comparati  ad  earn  sunt. 


OF  HONOUR  AND  REPUTATION.  263 

speaketh  of,  which  is  to  be  liberal  of  praise  and  com- 
mendation to  others,  in  that  wherein  a  man's  self  hath 
any  perfection.  For  saith  Pliny  very  wittily,  In  com- 
mending another  you  do  yourself  right ;  for  he  that  you 
commend  is  either  superior  to  you  in  that  you  commend., 
or  inferior.  If  he  he  inferior^  if  he  he  to  he  commended^ 
you  much  more  ;  if  he  he  superior^  if  he  he  not  to  he  comr- 
mended^f  you  much  less.  Glorious  men  are  the  scorn  of 
wise  men,  the  admiration  of  fools,  the  idols  of  para- 
sites, and  the  slaves  of  their  own  vaunts.^ 


LV.    Of  Honour  and  Reputation. 

The  winning  of  Honour  ^  is  but  the  revealing  of  a 
man's  virtue  and  worth  without  disadvantage.  For 
some  in  their  actions  do  woo  and  affect  honour  and 
reputation  ;  which  sort  of  men  are  commonly  much 
talked  of,  but  inwardly  little  admired.  And  some, 
contrariwise,  darken  their  virtue  in  the  shew  of  it ;  so 
as  they  be  undervalued  in  opinion.  If  a  man  perform 
that  which  hath  not  been  attempted  before  ;  or  at- 
tempted and  given  over ;  or  hath  been  achieved,  but 
not  with  so  good  circumstance;  he  shall  purchase  more 
honour,  than  by  effecting  a  matter  of  greater  difficulty 
or  virtue,  wherein  he  is  but  a  follower.  If  a  man  so 
temper  his  actions,  as  in  some  one  of  them  he  doth 
content  every  faction  or  combination  of  people,  the 
music  will  be  the  fuller.     A  man  is  an  ill  husband  of 


^  parisitis  pt'cedce  et  escce;  sibique  ipsis  et  glories  vanoe  mancipia. 

2  Honoris  et  existimationis  vera  et  jure  optimo  acquisitio  ea  est,  ut  quis,  &c. 
Harl.  MS.  5106.  (for  an  account  of  which  see  Appendix  No.  II.)  has  "  The 
true  winning  of  honour:  "  which  is  probably  the  true  reading. 


OF  HONOUR  AND  REPUTATION. 

his  honour,  that  entereth  into  any  action,  the  failing 
wherein  may  disgrace  him  more  than  the  carrying  of 
it  through  can  honour  him.  Honour  that  is  gained 
and  broken  upon  another^  hath  the  quickest ^  reflexion, 
like  diamonds  cut  with  fascets.^  And  therefore  let  a 
man  contend  to  excel  any  competitors  of  his  in  honour, 
in  outshooting  them,  if  he  can,  in  their  own  bow.  Dis- 
creet followers  and  servants  help  much  to  reputation.* 
Omnis  fama  a  domesticis  emanat.  Envy,  which  is  the 
canker  of  honour,  is  best  extinguished  by  declaring  a 
man's  self  in  his  ends  rather  to  seek  merit  than  fame ; 
and  by  attributing  a  man's  successes  rather  to  divine 
Providence  and  felicity,  than  to  his  own  virtue  or 
policy.  The  true  marshalling  of  the  degrees  of  sov- 
ereign honour  are  these.  In  the  first  place  are 
conditores  imperiorum^  founders  of  states  and  com- 
monwealths ;  such  as  were  Romulus,  Cyrus,  Caesar, 
Ottoman,  Ismael.  In  the  second  place  are  legislatores^ 
lawgivers  ;  which  are  also  called  second  founders^  or 
perpetui  principes,  because  they  govern  by  their  ordi- 
nances after  they  are  gone ;  such  were  Lycurgus,  Solon, 
Justinian,  Eadgar,  Alphonsus  of  Castile,  the  wise,  that 
made  the  Siete  partidas.  In  the  third  place  are  libera^ 
tores^  or  salvatores^^  such  as  compound  the  long  miseries 
of  civil  wars,  or  deliver  their  countries  from  servitude 
of  strangers  or  tyrants ;  as  Augustus  Caesar,  Vespasi- 
anus,  Aurelianus,  Theodoricus,  King  Henry  the  Sev- 
enth of  England,  King  Henry  the  Fourth  of  France. 
In  the  fourth  place  are  propagatores  or  propugnatores 
imperii ;  such  as  in  honourable  wars  enlarge  their  ter- 


1  qui  comparativus 

2  maxime  vividam. 
4  Ita  Q.  Cicero. 


it  et  alium  prcBgravat.  ^ 
8  cum  angulis  muUipIicibus. 
6  sive  servatores  patriarum  suarum. 


I 


OF  JUDICATURE.  265 

ritories,  or  make  noble  defence  against  invaders.  And 
in  the  last  place  are  patres  patrice^  [fathers  of  their 
country ;]  which  reign  justly,  and  make  the  times  good 
wherein  they  live.  Both  which  last  kinds  need  no 
examples,  they  are  in  such  number.  Degrees  of  hon- 
our in  subjects  are,  first  partidpes  curarum^  those  upon 
whom  princes  do  discharge  the  greatest  weight  of  their 
affairs ;  their  right  hands,  as  we  call  them.  The  next 
are  duces  belli,  great  leaders ;  such  as  are  princes'  lieu- 
tenants, and  do  them  notable  services  in  the  wars. 
The  third  are  gratiosi,  favourites ;  such  as  exceed  not 
this  scantling,  to  be  solace  to  the  sovereign,  and  harm- 
less to  the  people.  And  the  fourth,  negotiis  pares; 
such  as  have  great  places  under  princes,  and  execute 
their  places  with  sufficiency.  There  is  an  honour, 
likewise,  which  may  be  ranked  amongst  the  greatest, 
which  happeneth  rarely ;  that  is,  of  such  as  sacrifice 
themselves  to  death  or  danger  for  the  good  of  their 
country ;  as  was  M.  Regulus,  and  the  two  Decii. 


LVI.    Of  Judicature. 

Judges  ought  to  remember  that  their  office  is  jus 
dicere,  and  not  jus  dare  ;  to  interpret  law,  and  not  to 
make  law,  or  give  law.  Else  will  it  be  like  the  au- 
thority claimed  by  the  church  of  Rome,  which  under 
pretext  of  exposition  of  Scripture  doth  not  stick  to  add 
and  alter  ;  and  to  pronounce  that  which  they  do  not 
find ;  and  by  shew  of  antiquity  to  introduce  novelty. 
Judges  ought  to  be  more  learned  than  witty,  more 
reverend  than  plausible,  and  more  advised  than  con- 
fident.    Above  all  things,  integrity  is  their  portion  and 


266 


OF  JUDICATURE. 


proper  virtue.  Cursed  (saith  the  law)  is  he  that  ren 
moveth  the  landmark.  The  mislayer  of  a  mere-stone  is 
to  blame.  But  it  is  the  unjust  judge  that  is  the  capital 
remover  of  landmarks,  when  he  defineth  amiss  of  lands 
and  property.  One  foul  sentence  doth  more  hurt  than 
many  foul  examples.  For  these  do  but  corrupt  the 
stream,  the  other  corrupteth  the  fountain.  So  saith 
Salomon,  Fons  turhatus,  et  vena  corrupta,  est  Justus 
cadens  in  eausd  sua  coram  adversaria:  [A  righteous 
man  falling  down  before  the  wicked  is  as  a  troubled 
fountain  or  a  corrupt  spring.]  The  office  of  judges 
may  have  reference  unto  the  parties  that  sue,  unto  the 
advocates  that  plead,  unto  the  clerks  and  ministers  of 
justice  underneath  them,  and  to  the  sovereign  or  state 
above  them. 

First,  for  the  causes  or  parties  that  sue.  There  he 
(saith  the  Scripture)  that  turn  judgment  into  wormr 
wood;  and  surely  there  be  also  that  turn  it  into  vine- 
gar ;  for  injustice  maketh  it  bitter,  and  delays  make 
it  sour.  The  principal  duty  of  a  judge  is  to  suppress 
force  and  fraud ;  whereof  force  is  the  more  pernicious 
when  it  is  open,  and  fraud  when  it  is  close  and  dis- 
guised. Add  thereto  contentious  suits,  which  ought 
to  be  spewed  out,  as  the  surfeit  of  courts.  A  judge 
ought  to  prepare  his  way  to  a  just  sentence,  as  God 
useth  to  prepare  his  way,  by  raising  valleys  and  taking 
down  hills :  so  when  there  appeareth  on  either  side  an 
high  hand,  violent  prosecution,  cunning  advantages 
taken,  combination,  power,  great  counsel,^  then  is  the 
virtue  of  a  judge  seen,  to  make  inequality  equal ;  ^  that 

1  manum  elatam,  veluti  in  prosecutione  importund,  captionibus  malitiosis, 
comMnationibus,  patrocinio  potentum,  advocatorum  disparitate,  et  similibus. 

2  in  cequandis  its  quce  sunt  incequalia. 


OF  JUDICATURE.  267 

he  may  plant  his  judgment  as  upon  an  even  ground. 
Qui  fortiter  emungit,  elicit  sanguinem  ;  [Violent  blow- 
ing makes  the  nose  bleed  ;  ]  and  where  the  wine-press 
is  hard  wrought,  it  yields  a  harsh  wine,  that  tastes  of 
the  grape-stone.  Judges  must  beware  of  hard  con- 
structions and  strained  inferences ;  for  there  is  no  worse 
torture  than  the  torture  of  laws.  Specially  in  case  of 
laws  penal,  they  ought  to  have  care  that  that  which  was 
meant  for  terror  be  not  turned  into  rigour ;  and  that 
they  bring  not  upon  the  people  that  shower  whereof 
the  Scripture  speaketh,  Pluet  super  eos  laqueos  ;  for 
penal  laws  pressed  are  a  shower  of  snares  upon  the 
people.  Therefore  let  penal  laws,  if  they  have  been 
sleepers  of  long,  or  if  they  be  grown  unfit  for  the 
present  time,  be  by  wise  judges  confined  in  the  execu- 
tion :  Jadicis  officium  est,  ut  res,  ita  tempora  rerum, 
^c,  [A  judge  must  have  regard  to  the  time  as  well 
as  to  the  matter.]  In  causes  of  life  and  death,  judges 
ought  (as  far  as  the  law  permitteth)  in  justice  to  re- 
member mercy ;  and  to  cast  a  severe  eye  upon  the 
example,  but  a  merciful  eye  upon  the  person. 

Secondly,  for  the  advocates  and  counsel  that  plead. 
Patience  and  gravity  of  hearing  is  an  essential  part  of 
justice ;  and  an  overspeaking  judge  is  no  well-tuned 
cymbal.  It  is  no  grace  to  a  judge  first  to  find  that 
which  he  might  have  heard  in  due  time  from  the  bar ; 
or  to  show  quickness  of  conceit  in  cutting  off  evidence 
or  counsel  too  short  ;  or  to  prevent  information  by 
questions,  though  pertinent.  The  parts  of  a  judge  in 
hearing  are  four :  to  direct  the  evidence ;  to  moderate 
length,^  repetition,  or  impertinency  of  speech ;  to  reca- 
pitulate, select,  and  collate  the  material  points  of  that 

1  advocatorum  et  testium  prolixitatem. 


268 


OF  JUDICATURE. 


which  hath  been  said ;  and  to  give  the  rule  or  sei 
tence.  Whatsoever  is  above  these  is  too  much  ;  and'' 
proceedeth  either  of  glory  and  willingness  to  speak,  or 
of  impatience  to  hear,  or  of  shortness  of  memory,  or 
of  want  of  a  staid  and  equal  attention.  It  is  a  strange 
thing  to  see  that^  the  boldness  of  advocates  should  pre- 
vail with  judges ;  whereas  they  should  imitate  God,  in 
whose  seat  they  sit ;  who  represseth  the  presumptuous^ 
and  giveth  grace  to  the  modest.  But  it  is  more  strange, 
that  judges  should  have  noted  favourites  ;2  which  can- 
not but  cause  multiplication  of  fees,  and  suspicion  of 
bye-ways.^  There  is  due  from  the  judge  to  the  advo- 
cate some  commendation  and  gracing,  where  causes 
are  well  handled  and  fair  pleaded ;  especially  towards 
the  side  which  obtaineth  not ;  for  that  upholds  in  the 
client  the  reputation  of  his  counsel,  and  beats  down  in 
him  the  conceit  of  his  cause.  There  is  likewise  due 
to  the  public  a  civil  reprehension  of  advocates,  where 
there  appeareth  cunning  counsel,  gross  neglect,  slight 
information,  indiscreet  pressing,  or  an  over-bold  de- 
fence. And  let  not  the  counsel  at  the  bar  chop  with 
the  judge,*  nor  wind  himself  into  the  handling  of  the 
cause  anew  after  the  judge  hath  declared  his  sentence ; 
but  on  the  other  side,  let  not  the  judge  meet  the  cause 
half  way,  nor  give  occasion  for  the  party  to  say  his 
counsel  or  proofs  were  not  heard. 

Thirdly,  for  that  that  concerns  clerks  and  ministers. 
The  place  of  justice  is  an  hallowed  place ;  and  therefore 
not  only  the  bench,  but  the  foot-pace  and  precincts  and 
purprise  thereof,  ought  to  be  preserved  without  scandal 

1  quantum. 

2  advocaiis  quibusdam prce  cceteris  immoderate  et  aperte  favere. 
8  corruptionis,  et  obliqui  adjudices  aditus. 

4  obstrepat. 


OF  JUDICATURE.  269 

and  corruption.  For  certainly  Grapes  (as  the  Scrip- 
ture saith)  will  not  be  gathered  of  thorns  or  thistles  ; 
neither  can  justice  yield  her  fruit  with  sweetness 
amongst  the  briars  and  brambles  of  catching  and  poll- 
ing ^  clerks  and  ministers.  The  attendance  of  courts  is 
subject  to  four  bad  instruments.  First,  certain  persons 
that  are  sowers  of  suits ;  which  make  the  court  swell, 
and  the  country  pine.  The  second  sort  is  of  those  that 
engage  courts  in  quarrels  of  jurisdiction,  and  are  not 
truly  amici  ounce,  but  parasiti  curice,  in  puffing  a  court 
up  beyond  her  bounds,  for  their  own  scraps  and  advan- 
tage. The  third  sort  is  of  those  that  may  be  accounted 
the  left  hands  of  courts ;  persons  that  are  full  of  nim- 
ble and  sinister  tricks  and  shifts,  whereby  they  pervert 
the  plain  and  direct  courses  of  courts,  and  bring  jus- 
tice into  oblique  lines  and  labyrinths.  And  the  fourth 
is  the  poller  and  exacter  of  fees ;  which  justifies  the 
common  resemblance  of  the  courts  of  justice  to  the 
bush  whereunto  while  the  sheep  flies  for  defence  in 
weather,  he  is  sure  to  lose  part  of  his  fleece.  On  the 
other  side,  an  ancient  clerk,  skilftil  in  precedents,  wary 
in  proceeding,^  and  understanding  in  the  business  of 
the  court,  is  an  excellent  finger  of  a  court ;  and  doth 
many  times  point  the  way  to  the  judge  himself. 

Fourthly,  for  that  which  may  concern  the  sovereign 
and  estate.  Judges  ought  above  all  to  remember  the 
conclusion  of  the  Roman  Twelve  Tables  ;  Salus  populi 
mprema  lex;  [The  supreme  law  of  all  is  the  weal  of 
the  people ;]  and  to  know  that  laws,  except  they  be  in 
order  to  that  end,  are  but  things  captious,  and  oracles 
not  well  inspired.      Therefore  it  is  an  happy  thing 

1  rapacium  et  lucris  inhiantium. 

2  in  actis  ipsis  condpiendis  cautus. 


270 


OF  JUDICATURE. 


in  a  state  when  kings  and  states  do  often  consult  witl 
judges;  and  again  when  judges  do  often  consult  wit 
the  king  and  state :  the  one,  when  there  is  matter  oi 
law  intervenient  in  business  of  state ;  the  other,  whei 
there   is  some   consideration   of  state   intervenient 
matter  of  law.     For  many  times  the  things  deduced 
to  judgment  may  be  meum  and  tuum^  when  the  reason 
and  consequence  thereof  may  trench  to  point  of  estate : 
I  call  matter  of  estate,  not  only  the  parts  of  sovei 
eignty,^  but  whatsoever  introduceth  any  great  altei 
tion  or  dangerous  precedent;  or  concemeth^  manifest!] 
any  great  portion  of  people.     And  let  no  man  weakly 
conceive  that  just  laws  and  true  policy  have  any  antip- 
athy ;  for  they  are  like  the  spirits  and  sinews,  that  one 
moves  with  the  other.     Let  judges  also  remember,  that 
Salomon's  throne  was  supported  by  lions  on  both  sides : 
let  them  be  lions,  but  yet  lions  under  the  throne ;  being 
circumspect  that  they  do  not  check  or  oppose  any  points 
of  sovereignty.     Let  not  judges  also  be  so  ignorant  of 
their  own  right,  as  to  think  there  is  not  left  to  them,  as 
a  principal  part  of  their  office,  a  wise  use  and  applic 
tion  of  laws.     For  they  may  remember  what  the  ape 
tie  saith  of  a  greater  law  than  theirs  ;  No8  scimus  quia 
lex  bona  est,  modo  quis  ed  utatur  legitime.     [We  know 
that  the  law  is  good,  if  a  man  use  it  lawftdly.] 


1  intelligo  autem  ad  raiiones  status  pertinere,  non  solum  si  quid  ad  Jura  Re- 
galia impetenda  spectet,  verum  eiiam,  &c 

2  gravet. 


OF  ANGER.  271 

LVII.     Of  Anger. 

To  seek  to  extinguish  Anger  utterly  is  but  a  bravery 
of  the  Stoics.  We  have  better  oracles :  Be  angry ^  hut 
sin  not.  Let  7iot  the  sun  go  down  upon  your  anger. 
Anger  must  be  limited  and  confined  both  in  race  and 
in  time.^  We  will  first  speak  how  the  natural  inclina- 
tion and  habit  to  be  angry  may  be  attempered  and 
calmed.  Secondly,  how  the  particular  motions  of  an- 
ger may  be  repressed,  or  at  least  refi-ained  from  doing 
mischief.  Thirdly,  how  to  raise  anger  or  appease  an- 
ger in  another. 

For  the  first ;  there  is  no  other  way  but  to  meditate 
and  ruminate  well  upon  the  effects  of  anger,  how  it 
troubles  man's  life.  And  the  best  time  to  do  this,  is  to 
look  back  upon  anger  when  the  fit  is  throughly  over. 
Seneca  saith  well.  That  anger  is  like  ruin,  which  breaks 
itself  upon  that  it  falls.  The  Scripture  exhorteth  us 
To  possess  our  souls  in  patience.  Whosoever  is  out  of 
patience,  is  out  of  possession  of  his  soul.  Men  must 
not  turn  bees  ; 


animasque  in  viilnere  ponunt : 


[that  put  their  lives  in  the  sting.] 

Anger  is  certainly  a  kind  of  baseness ;  ^  as  it  appears 
well  in  the  weakness  of  those  subjects  in  whom  it 
reigns  ;  children,  women,  old  folks,  sick  folks.  Only 
men  must  beware  that  they  carry  their  anger  rather 
with  scorn  than  with  fear ;  ^   so  that  they  may  seem 

1  et  quousque  et  quamdiu. 

2  res  humilis  et  infra  dignitatem  hominis. 

8  Itaque  cum  irasci  contigent,  caveani  homines  {si  modo  dignitatis  siub  velint 
esse  memores)  ne  iram  suam  cum  metu  eorum  quibus  irascuntur.  sed  cum  con- 
temptu,  conjungant. 


272  OF  ANGER. 

rather  to  be  above  the  injury  than  below  it;  which 
is  a  thing  easily  done,  if  a  man  will  give  law  to  him- 
self in  it.^ 

For  the  second  point ;  the  causes  and  motives  of  an- 
ger are  chiefly  three.  First,  to  be  too  sensible  of  hurt ; 
for  no  man  is  angry  that  feels  not  himself  hurt ;  and 
therefore  tender  and  delicate  persons  must  needs  be 
oft  angry ;  they  have  so  many  things  to  trouble  them, 
which  more  robust  natures  have  little  sense  of.  The 
next  is,  the  apprehension  and  construction  of  the  in- 
jury offered  to  be,  in  the  circumstances  thereof,  full 
of  contempt :  ^  for  contempt  is  that  which  putteth  an 
edge  upon  anger,  as  much  or  more  than  the  hurt  itself. 
And  therefore  when  men  are  ingenious  in  picking  out 
circumstances  of  contempt,  they  do  kindle  their  anger 
much.  Lastly,  opinion  of  the  touch  of  a  man's  repu- 
tation ^  doth  multiply  and  sharpen  anger.  Wherein 
the  remedy  is,*  that  a  man  should  have,  as  Consalvo 
was  wont  to  say,  telam  honoris  crassiorem,  [an  honour 
of  a  stouter  web.]  But  in  all  refi^ainings  of  anger,  it 
is  the  best  remedy  to  win  time ;  and  to  make  a  man's 
self  believe,  that  the  opportunity  of  his  revenge  is  not 
yet  come,  but  that  he  foresees  a  time  for  it ;  and  so  to 
still  himself  in  the  mean  time,  and  reserve  it. 

To  contain  anger  from  mischief,  though  it  take  hold 
of  a  man,  there  be  two  things  whereof  you  must  have 
special  caution.  The  one,  of  extreme  bitterness  of 
words,  especially  if  they  be  aculeate  and  proper ;  for 

1  si  quis  iram  suam  paullulum  regat  et  injlectat. 

2  si  quis  curiosus  sit  et  perspicax  in  interpretatione  injurice  illatce,  quatenus 
ad  circumstantias  ejus,  ac  si  contemptum  spiraret. 

8  opinio  contumdice,  sive  quod  existimatio  hominisper  consequentiam  Icedatur 
et  perstringatur. 
^  cui  accedit  reinedium  prcesentaneum. 


OF  VICISSITUDE   OF  THINGS.  273 

communia  maledicta  are  nothing  so  much ;  and  again, 
that  in  anger  a  man  reveal  no  secrets ;  for  that  makes 
him  not  fit  for  society.  The  other,  that  you  do  not 
peremptorily  break  off,  in  any  business,  in  a  fit  of  an- 
ger ;  but  howsoever  you  shew  bitterness,  do  not  act 
anything  that  is  not  revocable. 

For  raising  and  appeasing  anger  in  another  ;  it  is 
done  chiefly  by  choosing  of  times,  when  men  are  fro- 
wardest  and  worst  disposed,  to  incense  them.  Again, 
by  gathering  (as  was  touched  before)  all  that  you  can 
find  out  to  aggravate  the  contempt.  And  the  two 
remedies  are  by  the  contraries.  The  former  to  take 
good  times,^  when  first  to  relate  to  a  man  an  angry 
business  ;  for  the  first  impression  is  much  ;  and  the 
other  is,  to  sever,  as  much  as  may  be,  the  construction 
of  the  injury  from  the  point  of  contempt ;  imputing  it 
to  misunderstanding,  fear,  passion,  or  what  you  will. 


LVIII.    Of  Vicissitude  of  Things. 

Salomon  saith,  There  is  no  new  thing  upon  the  earth. 
So  that  as  Plato  had  an  imagination.  That  all  knowledge 
was  hut  remembrance ;  so  Salomon  giveth  his  sentence. 
That  all  novelty  is  hut  oblivion.  Whereby  you  may  see 
that  the  river  of  Lethe  runneth  as  well  above  ground 
as  below.  There  is  an  abstruse  astrologer  ^  that  saith, 
if  it  were  not  for  two  things  that  are  constant^  (the  one 
is,  that  the  fixed  stars  ever  stand  at  like  distance  one 
from  another,  and  never  come  nearer  together,  nor  go 
further   asunder ;    the   other,  that   the   diurnal  motion 

1  tempora  serena  et  ad  hilaritatem  prona. 

2  astrologus  quidam  abstrusus  et  parum  notus. 

VOL.  XII.  18 


274  OF  VICISSITUDE   OF   THINGS. 

perpetually  keepeih  time,')  no  individual  would  last  one 
moment.  Certain  it  is,  that  the  matter  is  in  a  perpetual 
flux,  and  never  at  a  stay.  The  great  winding-sheets, 
that  bury  all  things  in  oblivion,  are  two  ;  deluges  and 
earthquakes.  As  for  conflagrations  and  great  droughts, 
they  do  not  merely  dispeople  and  destroy.^  Phaeton's 
car  went  but  a  day.^  And  the  three  years'  drought  in 
the  time  of  Elias  was  but  particular,  and  left  people 
alive.  As  for  the  great  burnings  by  lightnings,  w^hich 
are  often  in  the  West  Indies,  they  are  but  narrow .^ 
But  in  the  other  two  destructions,  by  deluge  and  earth- 
quake, it  is  further  to  be  noted,  that  the  remnant  of 
people  which  hap  to  be  reserved,  are  commonly  igno- 
rant and  mountainous  people,  that  can  give  no  account 
of  the  time  past;  so  that  the  oblivion  is  all  one*  as  if 
none  had  been  left.  If  you  consider  well  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  West  Indies,  it  is  very  probable  that  they 
are  a  newer  or  a  younger  people  than  the  people  of  the 
old  world.  And  it  is  much  more  likely  that  the  de- 
struction that  hath  heretofore  been  there,  was  not  by 
earthquakes  (as  the  ^Egyptian  priest  told  Solon  con- 
cerning the  island  of  Atlantis,  that  it  was  swallowed  hy 
an  earthquake),  but  rather  that  it  was  desolated  by  a 
particular  deluge.  For  earthquakes  are  seldom  in  those 
parts.  But  on  the  other  side,  they  have  such  pouring 
rivers,  as  the  rivers  of  Asia  and  Africk  and  Europe 
are  but  brooks  to  them.  Their  Andes  likewise,  or 
mountains,  are  far  higher  than  those  with  us  ;  whereby 

1  nice  populum  penittis  rum  absorbent  aut  destruunt. 

2  Fahula  Phaetontis  brevitatem  conjlagrationis,  ad  unius  diei  tantum  spa- 
tium,  reprcesentavit. 

3  The  translation  adds :  Pestilentias  etiam  prcetereo  quia  nee  illce  totaliter 
absorbent. 

4  ut  oblivio  non  minus  omnia  involvat. 


OF  VICISSITUDE   OF   THINGS.  275 

it  seems  that  Lhe  remnants  of  generation  of  men  were 
in  such  a  particular  deluge  saved.  ^  As  for  the  obser- 
vation that  Machiavel  hath,  that  the  jealousy  of  sects 
doth  much  extinguish  the  memory  of  things ;  traduc- 
ing Gregory  the  Great,  that  he  did  what  in  him  lay  to 
extinguish  all  heathen  antiquities ;  I  do  not  find  that 
those  zeals  do  any  great  effects,  nor  last  long  ;  as  it 
appeared  in  the  succession  of  Sabinian,  who  did  re- 
vive the  former  antiquities.^ 

The  vicissitude  or  mutations  in  the  Superior  Globe 
are  no  fit  matter  for  this  present  argument.  It  may 
be,  Plato's  great  year,  if  the  world  should  last  so  long, 
would  have  some  effect ;  not  in  renewing  the  state  of 
like  individuals,  (for  that  is  the  fume  of  those  that  con- 
ceive the  celestial  bodies  have  more  accurate  influences 
upon  these  things  below  than  indeed  they  have,)  but 
in  gross.^  Comets,  out  of  question,  have  likewise 
power  and  effect  over  the  gross  and  mass  of  things ; 
but  they  are  rather  gazed  upon,  and  waited  upon  in 
their  journey,  than  wisely  observed  in  their  effects  ;  * 
specially  in  their  respective  effects  ;  that  is,  what  kind 
of  comet,  for  magnitude,  colour,  version  of  the  beams, 
placing  in  the  region  of  heaven,^  or  lasting,  produceth 
what  kind  of  effects. 

There  is  a  toy  which  I  have  heard,  and  I  would  not 
have  it  given  over,  but  waited  upon  a  little.     They  say 

1  unde  credibile  est  reliquias  stirpis  hominum  apud  eos  post  tale  diluvium 
particular e  conservatas  fuisse. 

2  The  translation  adds :  Turn  vero  prohiAita,  licet  tenebris  coqperta,  obre- 
punt  tamen  et  suas  nanciscuntur  periodos. 

3  in  summis  et  massis  rerum. 

4  Verum  homines,  ut  nunc  est,  indiligentes,  aut  curiosi,  circa  eos  sunt :  eos- 
que  potius  mirabundi  spectant,  atque  itineraria  eorundem  conficiunt,  quam 
effectus  eorum  prudenter  et  sobrie  notant. 

5  The  translation  adds :  tempestatis  anni ;  semitce  aut  cursus. 


276  OF  VICISSITUDE   OF   THINGS. 

it  is  observed  in  the  Low  Countries  (I  know  not  in 
what  part)  that  every  five  and  thirty  years  the  same 
kind  and  suit  of  years  and  weathers  comes  about 
again ;  ^  as  great  frosts,  great  wet,  great  droughts, 
warm  winters,  summers  with  httle  heat,  and  the  like ; 
and  they  call  it  the  Prime.  It  is  a  thing  I  do  the 
rather  mention,  because,  computing  backwards,  I  have 
found  some  concurrence.^ 

But  to  leave  these  points  of  nature,  and  to  come  to 
men.  The  greatest  vicissitude  of  things  amongst  men, 
is  the  vicissitude  of  sects  and  religions.  For  those  orbs 
rule  in  men's  minds  most.  The  true  religion  is  built 
upon  the  rock;  the  rest  are  tossed  upon  the  waves  of 
time.  To  speak  therefore  of  the  causes  of  new  sects  ; 
and  to  give  some  counsel  concerning  them,  as  far  as 
the  weakness  of  human  judgment  can  give  stay  to  so 
great  revolutions. 

When  the  religion  formerly  received  is  rent  by  dis- 
cords ;  and  when  the  holiness  of  the  professors  of  re- 
ligion is  decayed  and  full  of  scandal ;  and  withal  the 
times  be  stupid,  ignorant,  and  barbarous  ;  you  may 
doubt  the  springing  up  of  a  new  sect ;  if  then  also 
there  should  arise  any  extravagant  and  strange  spirit 
to  make  himself  author  thereof.^  All  which  points 
held  when  Mahomet  published  his  law.  If  a  new 
sect  have  not  two  properties,  fear  it  not ;  *  for  it  will 
not  spread.  The  one  is,  the  supplanting  or  the  oppos- 
ing of  authority  estabhshed  ;  for  nothing  is  more  pop- 

1  Similem  annorum  temperaturam,  et  tempestatem  ccdi^  velut  in  orbem  redire. 

2  Congruentiam,  hand  exactam  sane,  sed  non  multum  discrepantem. 
^prcecipue  si  eo  tempore  ingenium  qwoddam  intemperans  et  paradoxa  ^nr 

rans  stiboHatur. 

4  nova  secta  licet  pullulet,  dudbus  si  destituaiur  adminiculis,  ab  ed  non 
metuas. 


OF  VICISSITUDE   OF   THINGS.  277 

ular  than  that.  The  other  is,  the  giving  licence  to 
pleasures  and  a  voluptuous  life.  For  as  for  speculative 
heresies,  (such  as  were  in  ancient  times  the  Arians,  and 
now  the  Arminians,)  though  they  work  mightily  upon 
men's  wits,  yet  they  do  not  produce  any  great  altera- 
tions in  states  ;  except  it  be  by  the  help  of  civil  oc- 
casions.^ There  be  three  manner  of  plantations  of 
new  sects.  By  the  power  of  signs  and  miracles  ;  by 
the  eloquence  and  wisdom  of  speech  and  persuasion  ; 
and  by  the  sword.  For  martyrdoms,  I  reckon  them 
amongst  miracles  ;  because  they  seem  to  exceed  the 
strength  of  human  nature:  and  I  may  do  the  like 
of  superlative  and  admirable  holiness  of  life.  Surely 
there  is  no  better  way  to  stop  the  rising  of  new  sects 
and  schisms,  than  to  reform  abuses ;  to  compound  the 
smaller  differences  ;  to  proceed  mildly,  and  not  with 
sanguinary  persecutions  ;  and  rather  to  take  off  the 
principal  authors  by  winning  and  advancing  them, 
than  to  enrage  them  by  violence  and  bitterness. 

The  changes  and  vicissitude  in  wars  are  many  ;  but 
chiefly  in  three  things  ;  in  the  seats  or  stages  of  the 
war ;  in  the  weapons ;  and  in  the  manner  of  the  con- 
duct. Wars,  in  ancient  time,  seemed  more  to  move 
from  east  to  west ;  for  the  Persians,  Assyrians,  Arabi- 
ans, Tartars,  (which  were  the  invaders,)  were  all  east- 
ern people.  It  is  true,  the  Gauls  were  western;  but 
we  read  but  of  two  incursions  of  theirs:  the  one  to 
Gallo-Graecia,  the  other  to  Rome.  But  East  and  West 
have  no  certain  points  of  heaven ;  ^  and  no  more  have 
the  wars,  either  from  the  east  or  west,  any  certainty  of 
observation.     But  North  and  South  are  fixed  ;3  and  it 

1  ex  occasione  motuum  civilium. 

2  cceli,  climata  non  determinant.  8  naturd  Jixi. 


278 


OF  VICISSITUDE   OF  THINGS. 


hath  seldom  or  never  been  seen  that  the  far  southern 
people  have  invaded  the  northern,  but  contrariwise. 
Whereby  it  is  manifest  that  the  northern  tract  of  the 
world  is  in  nature  the  more  martial  region :  be  it  in 
respect  of  the  stars  of  that  hemisphere  ;  or  of  the 
great  continents  that  are  upon  the  north,  whereas 
the  south  part,  for  aught  that  is  known,  is  almost 
all  sea ;  or  (which  is  most  apparent)  of  the  cold  of 
the  northern  parts,  which  is  that  which,  without  aid 
of  discipline,  doth  make  the  bodies  hardest,  and  the 
courages  warmest.^ 

Upon  the  breaking  and  shivering  of  a  great  state 
and  empire,  you  may  be  sure  to  have  wars.  For  great 
empires,  while  they  stand,  do  enervate  and  destroy  the 
forces  of  the  natives  which  they  have  subdued,  resting 
upon  their  own  protecting  forces  ;  and  then  when  they 
fail  also,  all  goes  to  ruin,  and  they  become  a  prey.^ 
So  was  it  in  the  decay  of  the  Roman  empire  ;  and 
likewise  in  the  empire  of  Almaigne,  after  Charles  the 
Great,  every  bird  taking  a  feather ;  and  were  not  un- 
like to  befal  to  Spain,  if  it  should  break.  The  great 
accessions  and  unions  of  kingdoms  do  likewise  stir  up 
wars  :  for  when  a  state  grows  to  an  over-power,  it  is 
like  a  great  flood,  that  will  be  sure  to  overflow.  As  it 
hath  been  seen  in  the  states  of  Rome,  Turkey,  Spain, 
and  others.  Look  when  the  world  hath  fewest  barbar- 
ous peoples,^  but  such  as  commonly  will  not  marry  or 
generate,  except  they  know  means  to  live,^  (as  it  is  al- 
most every  where  at  this  day,  except  Tartary,)  there  is 

1  The  translation  adds :    ut  liquet  in  popuh  Araucensi ;  qui  ad  ulteriora 
Austri  positi  omnibus  Peruviensibus  fortitudine  huge  prcecellunt. 

2  aliis  gentibus  in  prcBdam  cadunt. 

8  cum  mundus  nationibus  barharis  minus  abundat,  sed  civiliores  fere  sunt. 
4  nisi  modum  familiam  alendi,  aut  saltern  victum  parandi,  prceviderint. 


OF  VICISSITUDE   OF   THINGS.  279 

no  danger  of  inundations^  of  people:  but  when  there 
be  great  shoals  of  people,  which  go  on  to  populate, 
without  foreseeing  means  of  life  and  sustentatlon,  it  is 
of  necessity  that  once  in  an  age  or  two  they  discharge 
a  portion  of  their  people  upon  other  nations  ;  ^  which 
the  ancient  northern  people  were  wont  to  do  by  lot ; 
casting  lots  what  part  should  stay  at  home,  and  what 
should  seek  their  fortunes.  When  a  warlike  state 
grows  soft  and  effeminate,  they  may  be  sure  of  a  war. 
For  commonly  such  states  are  grown  rich  in  the  time 
of  their  degenerating ;  and  so  the  prey  inviteth,  and 
their  decay  in  valour  encourageth  a  war.^ 

As  for  the  weapons,  it  hardly  falleth  under  rule  and 
observation :  yet  we  see  even  they  have  returns  and 
vicissitudes.  For  certain  it  is,  that  ordnance  *  was 
known  in  the  city  of  the  Oxidrakes  in  India ;  and 
was  that  which  the  Macedonians  called  thunder  and 
lightning,  and  magic.  And  it  is  well  known  that  the 
use  of  ordnance  ^  hath  been  in  China  above  two  thou- 
sand years.  The  conditions  of  weapons,  and  their  im- 
provement, are,  First,  the  fetching  afar  off;  for  that 
outruns  the  danger  ;  ^  as  it  is  seen  in  ordnance  and 
muskets.  Secondly,  the  strength  of  the  percussion ; 
wherein  likewise  ordnance  do  exceed  all  arietations 
and  ancient  inventions.  The  third  is,  the  commodious 
use  of  them  ;  as  that  they  may  serve  in  all  weathers  ;  •" 

1  ah  inundationibus  aut  migrationibus. 

^  portionem  aUquam  muUitudinis  siue  exonerent,  et  novas  sedes  qiujeranf,  et 
sic  alias  nationes  invadant. 

3  animat  gentes  alias  ad  eosdem  invadendos. 

4  tormenta  cenea. 

6  pulveris  pyrii  et  tormentorum  igneorum. 

6  periculum  ah  hostili  parte  aniicipat. 

7  id  quod  iormentis  igneis  majoribus  etiam  compeiit,  qttce  omnibus  tempes- 
tatihus 


280 


OF  VICISSITUDE  OF  XmNGS. 


that  the  carriage  may  be  hght  and  manageable  ;  and 
the  like. 

For  the  conduct  of  the  war :  at  the  first,  men  rested 
extremely  upon  number :  they  did  put  the  wars  like- 
wise upon  main  force  and  valour ;  pointing  days  for 
pitched  fields,  and  so  trying  it  out  upon  an  even 
match :  and  they  were  more  ignorant  in  ranging  and 
arraying  their  battles.  After  they  grew  to  rest  upon 
number  rather  competent  than  vast ;  they  grew  to  ^ 
advantages  of  place,  cunning  diversions,  and  the  like : 
and  they  grew  more  skilful  in  the  ordering  of  their 
battles. 

In  the  youth  of  a  state,  arms  do  flourish ;  in  the  mid- 
dle age  of  a  state,  learning ;  and  then  both  of  them 
together  for  a  time;  in  the  declining  age  of  a  state, 
mechanical  arts  and  merchandise.  Learning  hath  his 
infancy,  when  it  is  but  beginning  and  almost  childish :  ^ 
then  his  youth,  when  it  is  luxuriant  and  juvenile :  then 
his  strength  of  years,  when  it  is  solid  and  reduced  i^ 
and  lastly,  his  old  age,  when  it  waxeth  dry  and  ex- 
haust.^ But  it  is  not  good  to  look  too  long  upon  these 
turning  wheels  of  vicissitude,  lest  we  become  giddy. 
As  for  the  philology  of  them,  that  is  but  a  circle  of 
tales,^  and  therefore  not  fit  for  this  writing. 


1  So  in  original.  A  word  appears  to  have  dropped  out,  such  as  seeA;,  or 
something  equivalent.     The  translation  has  captabant. 

2  quando  leviusculce  sunt,  etpueriles. 

3  solidiores  et  exactiores. 

*  The  translation  adds,  manenie  tamen  garrulitate. 

6  Quatenus  vero  ad  Pkilologiam,  quae  in  hoc  argumento  ut  plurimum  versa- 
tur,  nihil  alivd  est  quam  narratiuncularum  et  observationum  futilium  conge- 
ries qtusdam. 


NOTE.  281 


NOTE 


In  speaking  of  the  original  edition,  I  have  referred  to  a 
copy  in  my  own  possession ;  from  which  the  title  is  copied. 
I  have  since  found  that  there  is  a  copy  in  the  British  Museum 
bearing  the  same  date,  but  not  in  all  respects  the  same.  In 
the  titlepage,  instead  of  newly  enlarged,  it  has  newly  written. 
It  professes  to  be  "  printed  by  John  Haviland,  for  Hanna 
Barret,"  omitting  the  name  of  Richard  Whittaker,  and  the 
words  which  follow.  In  the  text,  it  is  difficult  even  on  a 
careful  examination  to  detect  any  differences  whatever.  But 
upon  referring  to  the  passages  in  which  I  had  noticed  an 
error,  or  a  doubt,  or  a  variety  of  reading,  I  find  that  in  three 
of  them  it  differs  from  my  copy.  In  p.  146.  it  has  children 
not  child:  in  p.  167.  fiower  not  flowers :  in  p.  219.  game  not 
gaine.  One  or  two  other  variations  which  occur  in  the  later 
essays  I  have  noticed  in  their  places.  Of  these  copies,  one 
must  certainly  have  been  a  proof  in  which  corrections  were 
afterwards  made.  And  the  fact  that  all  the  later  editions 
have  "newly  enlarged"  in  the  titlepage,  instead  of  "newly 
written,"  favours  the  supposition  that  mine  is  the  corrected 
copy.  That  in  some  cases  (as  for  instance  in  pages  167. 
and  219.)  the  reading  of  the  other  copy  is  unquestionably 
the  right  one,  may  possibly  be  explained  by  accidents  of 
the  press.  The  last  letter  m  flowers  may  have  failed  to  take 
the  ink ;  the  m  in  game  may  have  been  injured,  and  being 
mistaken  for  an  imperfect  in  may  have  been  replaced  by  a 
perfect  in. 


APPENDIX  TO  THE  ESSAYS. 


I. 

A  Fragment  of  an  Essay  on  Fame.^ 

The  poets  make  Fame  a  monster.  They  describe 
her  in  part  finely  and  elegantly ;  and  in  part  gravely 
and  sententiously.  They  say,  look  how  many  feathers 
she  hath,  so  many  eyes  she  hath  underneath  ;  so  many 
tongues  ;  so  many  voices  ;  she  pricks  up  so  many  ears. 

This  is  a  flourish.  There  follow  excellent  parables  ; 
as  that  she  gathereth  strength  in  going :  that  she  goeth 
upon  the  ground,  and  yet  hideth  her  head  in  the 
clouds  :  that  in  the  day-time  she  sitteth  in  a  watch 
tower,  and  flieth  most  by  night:  that  she  mingleth 
thino-s  done  with  things  not  done:  and  that  she  is  a  ter- 
ror  to  great  cities.  But  that  which  passeth  all  the  rest 
is  ;  they  do  recount  that  the  Earth,  mother  of  the  Gi- 
ants that  made  war  against  Jupiter  and  were  by  him 
destroyed,  thereupon  in  an  anger  brought  forth  Fame ; 

1  This  fragment  was  first  published  by  Dr.  Rawley,  in  the  Eesuscitatio 
(1657),  p.  281.  Though  unfinished,  therefore,  it  may  be  regarded  as  a 
genuine  and  undoubted  work  of  Bacon's,  as  far  as  it  goes.  Two  other 
Essays,  which  have  been  ascribed  to  Bacon  upon  very  doubtful  authority 
(and  at  least  one  of  them  in  my  opinion  very  improbably),  will  be  printed 
by  themselves  at  the  end  of  this  Appendix. 


284 


APPENDIX  I. 


for  certain  it  is  that  rebels,  figured  by  the  giants,  and 
seditious  fames  and  libels,  are  but  brothers  and  sisters  ; 
masculine  and  feminine.  But  now,  if  a  man  can  tame 
this  monster,  and  bring  her  to  feed  at  the  hand,  and 
govern  her,  and  with  her  fly  other  ravening  fowl  and 
kill  them,  it  is  somewhat  worth.  But  we  are  infected 
with  the  stile  of  the  poets.  To  speak  now  in  a  sad 
and  a  serious  manner.  There  is  not  in  all  the  politics 
a  place  less  handled,  and  more  worthy  to  be  handled, 
than  this  of  fame.  We  will  therefore  speak  of  these 
points.  What  are  false  fames ;  and  what  are  true 
fames ;  and  how  they  may  be  best  discerned ;  how 
fames  may  be  sown  and  raised;  how  they  may  be 
spread  and  multiplied  ;  and  how  they  may  be  checked 
and  laid  dead.  And  other  things  concerning  the  na- 
ture of  fame.  Fame  is  of  that  force,  as  there  is  scarce- 
ly any  great  action  wherein  it  hath  not  a  great  part ; 
especially  in  the  war.  Mucianus  undid  Vitellius,  by  a 
fame  that  he  scattered,  that  VitelHus  had  in  purpose  to 
remove  the  legions  of  Syria  into  Germany,  and  the 
legions  of  Germany  into  Syria ;  whereupon  the  legions 
of  Syria  were  infinitely  inflamed.  Julius  Caesar  took 
Pompey  unprovided,  and  laid  asleep  his  industry  and 
preparations,  by  a  fame  that  he  cunningly  gave  out, 
how  Caesar's  own  soldiers  loved  him  not ;  and  being 
wearied  with  wars,  and  laden  with  the  spoils  of  Gaul, 
would  forsake  him  as  soon  as  he  came  into  Italy.  Livia 
settled  all  things  for  the  succession  of  her  son  Tiberius, 
by  continual  giving  out  that  her  husband  Augustus  was 
upon  recovery  and  amendment.  And  it  is  an  usual 
thing  with  the  Bashaws,  to  conceal  the  death  of  the 
great  Turk  from  the  Janizaries  and  men  of  war,  to 
save  the  sacking  of  Constantinople  and  other  towns,  as 


APPENDIX  I.  285 

their  manner  is.  Themistocles  made  Xerxes  King  of 
Persia  post  apace  out  of  Graecia,  by  giving  out  that  the 
Grecians  had  a  purpose  to  break  his  bridge  of  ships 
which  he  had  made  athwart  Hellespont.  There  be  a 
thousand  such  like  examples,  and  the  more  they  are, 
the  less  they  need  to  be  repeated ;  because  a  man  meet- 
eth  with  them  every  where.  Therefore  let  all  wise 
governors  have  as  great  a  watch  and  care  over  fames, 
as  they  have  of  the  actions  and  designs  themselves. 


The  rest  was  not  JinisTied. 


II. 

Early  Editions  of  the  Essays. 

Bacon's  Essays  in  their  earliest  shape  formed  part 
of  a  very  small  octavo  volume,  published  in  1597,  with 
the  following  title  :  Essayes.  Religious  Meditations, 
Places  of  perswasion  and  disswasion.  Seene  and  al- 
lowed. At  London,  Printed  for  Humfrey  Hooper,  and 
are  to  he  sold  at  the  hlache  Beare  in  Chauncery  Lane, 
1597. 

The  Religious  meditations  and  the  Places  of  perswa- 
sion and  disswasion  refer  to  two  other  works ;  one  in 
Latin,  entitled  Meditationes  sacrce :  the  other  in  Eng- 
lish, entitled  Of  the  Coulers  of  Good  and  .Evill ;  a 
fragment.     These  will  be  printed  elsewhere. 

The  "  Epistle  Dedicatory  "  prefixed  to  the  volume  is 
dated  the  30th  of  January,  1597 ;  which  in  the  case 
of  an  ordinary  letter  would  be  understood  to  mean 
1597-8.  But  I  suppose  that  publishers,  who  like  to 
have  fresh  dates  on  their  titlepages,  followed  the  "  his- 
torical "  year,  which  was  reckoned  from  the  1st  of 
January,  and  not  the  "  civil,"  which  was  reckoned 
from  the  25th  of  March.  For  I  find  in  the  Lambeth 
library,  the  following  rough  draft  of  a  letter  from 
Anthony  Bacon  to  the  Earl  of  Essex,  docqueted  "  le 
8">^  de  fdvrier,  1596." 


288 


APPENDIX  n. 


"  My  singular  good  Lord. 

"  I  am  bold,  and  yet  out  of  a  most  entire  and  dutiful  love 
wherein  my  german  brother  and  myself  stand  infinitely 
bound  unto  your  Lordship,  to  present  unto  you  the  first 
sight  and  taste  of  such  fruit  as  my  brother  was  constrained 
to  gather,  as  he  professeth  himself,  before  they  were  ripe,  to 
prevent  stealing;  and  withal  most  humbly  to  beseech  your 
Lordship,  that  as  my  brother  in  token  of  a  mutual  firm  broth- 
erly affection  hath  bestowed  by  dedication  the  property  of 
them  upon  myself,  so  your  Lordship,  to  whose  disposition! 
and  commandment  I  have  entirely  and  inviolably  vowed  myj 
poor  self,  and  whatever  appertaineth  unto  me,  either  in  pos- 
session or  right,  —  that  your  Lordship,  I  say,  in  your  noble 
and  singular  kindness  towards  us  both,  will  vouchsafe  first  to 
give  me  leave  to  transfer  my  interest  unto  your  Lordship, 
then  humbly  to  crave  your  honourable  acceptance  and  most 
worthy  protection.     And  so  I  must  humbly  take  my  leave. 

I  shall  now  give  a  correct  reprint  of  the  Essays,  as 
they  appeared  in  this  first  edition ;  preserving,  by  way 
of  specimen,  the  original  orthography  and  punctuation. 
I  take  it  from  the  copy  in  the  British  Museum ;  a  copy 
which  appears  by  a  memorandum  on  the  titlepage  to 
have  been  sold  on  the  7th  of  February,  39  Eliz.  (i.  e. 
1596-7),  for  the  sum  of  twenty  pence. 


THE    EPISTLE    DEDICATORIE. 


To  M.  Anthony  Bacon 

his  deare  Brother. 

LouiNG  and  beloued  Brother,  I  doe  nowe  like  some 
that  haue  an  Orcharde  il  neighbored,  that  gather  their 
fruit  before  it  is  ripe,  to  preuent  stealing.  These  frag- 
ments of  my  conceites  were  going  to  print ;  To  labour 
the  staie  of  them  had  bin  troublesome,  and  subiect  to 
intei'pretation  ;  to  let  them  passe  had  beene  to  adve- 
ture  the  wrong  they  mought  receiue  by  vntrue  Cop- 
pies,  or  by  some  garnishment,  which  it  mought  please 
any  that  should  set  them  forth  to  bestow  upon  them. 
Therefore  I  helde  it  best  discreation  to  publish  them 
my  selfe  as  they  passed  long  agoe  from  my  pen,  with- 
out any  further  disgrace,  then  the  weaknesse  of  the 
Author.  And  as  I  did  euer  hold,  there  mought  be 
as  great  a  vanitie  in  retiring  and  withdrawing  mens 
conceites  (except  they  bee  of  some  nature)  from  the 
world,  as  in  obtruding  them :  So  in  these  particulars 
I  haue  played  my  selfe  the  Inquisitor,  and  find  nothing 
to  my  vnderstanding  in  them  contrarie  or  infectious  to 

VOL.  XII.  19 


290 


APPENDIX  II. 


the  state  of  Religion,  or  manners,  but  rather  (as  I  sup- 
pose) medicinable.  Only  I  disliked  now  to  put  them 
out  because  they  will  be  like  the  late  new  halfe-pence, 
which  though  the  Siluer  were  good,  yet  the  peeces 
were  small.  But  since  they  would  not  stay  with  their 
Master,  but  would  needes  trauaile  abroade,  I  haue  pre- 
ferred them  to  you  that  are  next  myself.  Dedicating 
them,  such  as  they  are,  to  our  loue,  in  the  depth 
whereof  (I  assure  you)  I  sometimes  wish  your  infirm- 
ities translated  uppon  my  selfe,  that  her  Maiestie 
mought  haue  the  seruice  of  so  actiue  and  able  a  mind, 
&  I  mought  be  with  excuse  confined  to  these  contem- 
plations &  studies  for  which  I  am  fittest,  so  commende 
I  you  to  the  preseruation  of  the  diuine  Maiestie. 
From  my  Chamber  at  Graies  Inne,  this  30.  of  lanu- 
arie.  1597. 

Your  entire  Louing  brother. 

Fran.  Bacon. 


ESSAIES 


1.  Of  studie. 

2.  Of  discourse. 

3.  Of  Ceremonies  and  respects. 

4.  Of  followers  and  friends. 

5.  Sutors. 

6.  Of  expence. 

7.  Of  Regiment  of  health. 

8.  Of  Honour  and  reputation. 

9.  Of  Faction. 

10.  Of  Negociating. 


ESSAIES. 


Of   Studies. 

Studies  serue  for  pastimes,  for  ornaments  and  for 
abilities.  Their  cliiefe  vse  for  pastime  is  in  priuatenes 
and  retiring;  for  ornamente  is  in  discourse,  and  for 
abilitie  is  in  iudgement.  For  expert  men  can  execute, 
but  learned  men  are  fittest  to  iudge  or  censure. 

^  To  spend  too  much  time  in  them  is  slouth,  to  vse 
them  too  much  for  ornament  is  affectation :  to  make 
iudgement  wholly  by  their  rules,  is  the  humour  of  a 
Scholler.  ^  They  perfect  Nature^  and  are  perfected 
by  experience.  ^  Craftie  men  continue  ^  them,  sim- 
ple men  admire  them,  wise  men  vse  them :  For  they 
teach  not  their  owne  vse,  but  that  is  a  wisedome  with- 
out them :  and  aboue  them  wonne  by  observation. 
^  Reade  not  to  contradict,  nor  to  belieue,  but  to  waigh 
and  consider.  ^  Some  bookes  are  to  bee  tasted,  others 
to  bee  swallowed,  and  some  few  to  bee  chewed  and 
disgested  :  That  is,  some  bookes  are  to  be  read  only 
in  partes  ;  others  to  be  read,  but  cursorily,  and  some 
few  to  be  read  wholly  and  with  diligence  and  attention. 

1  So  in  the  original :  corrected  with  a  pen  into  contemne  in  the  British 
Museum  copy. 


292  APPENDIX  II. 

^  Reading  maketh  a  full  man,  conference  a  readye 
man,  and  writing  an  exacte  man.  And  therefore  if 
a  man  write  little,  he  had  neede  haue  a  great  memorie, 
if  he  conferre  little,  he  had  neede  haue  a  present  wit, 
and  if  he  reade  little,  hee  had  neede  haue  much  cun- 
ning, to  seeme  to  know  that  he  doth  not.  %  Histo- 
ries make  men  wise,  Poets  wittie  :  the  Mathematickes 
subtle,  naturall  Phylosophie  deepe  :  Morall  graue, 
Logicke  and  Rhetoricke  able  to  contend. 


Of  discourse. 

Some  in  their  discourse  desire  rather  commendation 
of  wit  in  being  able  to  holde  all  arguments,  then  of 
iudgement  in  discerning  what  is  true,  as  if  it  were  a 
praise  to  know  what  might  be  said,  and  not  what 
shoulde  be  thought.  Some  haue  certaine  Common 
places  and  Theames  wherein  they  are  good,  and  want 
varietie,  which  kinde  of  pouertie  is  for  the  most  part 
tedious,  and  no  we  and  then  ridiculous.  ^  The  hon- 
ourablest  part  of  talke  is  to  guide  the  occasion,  and 
againe  to  moderate  and  passe  to  somewhat  else.  ^  It 
is  good  to  varie  and  mixe  speech  of  the  present  occ 
sion  with  argument,  tales  with  reasons,  asking  of  ques- 
tions, with  telling  of  opinions,  and  iest  with  earnest. 
^  But  some  thinges  are  priuiledged  from  iest,  namelj 
Religion,  matters  of  state,  great  persons,  any  mans 
present  businesse  of  importance,  and  any  case  that 
deserueth  pittie.  ^  He  that  questioneth  much  shall 
learn  much,  and  content  much,  specially  if  hee  applie 
his  questions  to  the  skill  of  the  person  of  whome  he 
asketh,  for  he  shal  giue  them  occasion  to  please  them- 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.  293 

selues  in  speaking,  and  himselfe  shall  continually  gath- 
er knowledge.  ^  If  you  dissemble  sometimes  your 
knowledge  of  that  you  are  thought  to  knowe,  you 
shall  bee  thought  another  time  to  know  that  you  know 
not.  ^  Speech  of  a  mans  selfe  is  not  good  often,  and 
there  is  but  one  case,  wherin  a  man  may  commend 
himselfe  with  good  grace,  and  that  is  in  commending 
vertue  in  another,  especially  if  it  be  such  a  vertue, 
as  whereunto  himselfe  pretendeth.  ^  Discretion  of 
speech  is  more  then  eloquence,  and  to  speake  agreably 
to  him,  wdth  whome  we  deale  is  more  the  to  speake  in 
good  wordes  or  in  good  order.  ^  A  good  continued 
speech  without  a  good  speech  of  interlocution  sheweth 
slownesse  :  and  a  good  reply  or  second  speech  without 
a  good  set  speech  sheweth  shallownesse  and  weaknes, 
as  wee  see  in  beastes  that  those  that  are  weakest  in  the 
course  are  yet  nimblest  in  the  turne.  ^  To  vse  too 
many  circumstances  ere  one  come  to  the  matter  is 
wearisome,  to  use  none  at  all  is  blunt. 


Of  Ceremonies  and  Respectes. 

He  that  is  onely  reall  had  need  haue  exceeding  great 
parts  of  vertue,  as  the  stone  had  neede  be  rich  that  is 
set  without  foyle.  ^  But  commonly  it  is  in  praise  as 
it  is  in  gaine.  For  as  the  prouerbe  is  true.  That  light 
gaines  make  heauie  Purses  :  Because  they  come  thicke, 
wheras  great  come  but  now  and  then,  so  it  is  as  true 
that  smal  matters  winne  great  commendation  :  because 
they  are  continually  in  vse  and  in  note,  whereas  the 
occasion  of  any  great  vertue  commeth  but  on  holy- 
daies.     H  To  attaine  good  formes,  it  sufficeth  not  to 


294  APPENDIX  II. 

despise  them,  for  so  shal  a  man  observe  them  in  others, 
and  let  him  trust  himselfe  with  the  rest :  for  if  he  care 
to  expresse  them  hee  shall  leese  their  grace,  which  is  to 
be  natm'all  and  vnafFected.  Some  mens  behauiour  is 
like  a  verse  wherein  euery  sillable  is  measured.  How 
can  a  man  comprehend  great  matters  that  breaketh  his 
minde  too  much  to  small  obseruations  ?  ^  Not  to  vse 
Ceremonies  at  all,  is  to  teach  others  not  to  vse  them 
againe,  and  so  diminish  his  respect  ;  especially  they  be 
not  to  bee  omitted  to  straungers  and  strange  natures. 
^  Among  a  mans  Peires  a  man  shall  be  sure  of  famil- 
iaritie,  and  therefore  it  is  a  good  title  ^  to  keepe  state  ; 
amongst  a  mans  inferiours  one  shall  be  sure  of  reuer- 
ence,  and  therefore  it  is  good  a  little  to  be  familiar. 
^  Hee  that  is  too  much  in  any  thing,  so  that  he  give 
another  occasion  of  satietie,  maketh  himselfe  cheape. 
^  To  applie  ones  selfe  to  others  is  good,  so  it  be  with 
demonstration  that  a  man  doth  it  upon  regard,  and  not 
vpon  facilitie.  ^  It  is  a  good  precept  generally  in 
seconding  another  :  yet  to  adde  somewhat  of  ones 
owne  ;  as  if  you  will  graunt  his  opinion,  let  it  be  with 
some  distinction,  if  you  wil  follow  his  motion,  let  it  be 
with  condition  ;  if  you  allow  his  counsell,  let  it  be  with 
alleadging  further  reason. 


Of  followers  and  friends. 

Costly  followers  are  not  to  be  liked,  least  while  a 

man  maketh  his  traine  longer,   hee  make  his  wings 

shorter,  I  reckon  to  be  costly  not  them  alone  which 

charge  the  purse,  but  which  are  wearysome  and  impor- 

1  So  in  the  original:  a  mistake  for  "  it  is  good  a  little." 


EARLY  EDITIONS   OF   THE  ESSAYS.  295 

tune  in  sutes.  Ordinary  following  ought  to  challenge 
no  higher  conditions  then  countenance,  recommenda- 
tion and  protection  from  wrong. 

^  Factious  followers  are  worse  to  be  liked,  which 
follow  not  vpon  affection  to  him  with  whome  they 
raunge  themselues,  but  vpon  discontentment  conceiued 
against  some  other,  wherevpon  commonly  insueth  that 
ill  intelligence  that  wee  many  times  see  between  great 
personages.  ^  The  following  by  certaine  States  an- 
swereable  to  that  which  a  great  person  himselfe  pro- 
fesseth,  as  of  Souldiers  to  him  that  hath  beene  imployed 
in  the  warres,  and  the  like  hath  euer  beene  a  thing 
ciuile,  and  well  taken  euen  in  Monarchies,  so  it  bee 
without  too  much  pompe  or  popularitie.  ^  But  the 
most  honorable  kind  of  following  is  to  bee  followed,  as 
one  that  apprehendeth  to  aduance  vertue  and  desert  in 
all  sortes  of  persons,  and  yet  where  there  is  no  eminent 
oddes  in  sufficiencie,  it  is  better  to  take  with  the  more 
passable,  then  with  the  more  able.  In  gouernment  it 
is  good  to  vse  men  of  one  rancke  equally,  for,  to  coun- 
tenance some  extraordinarily,  is  to  make  them  inso- 
lente,  and  the  rest  discontent,  because  they  may  claime 
a  due.  But  in  fauours  to  vse  men  with  much  differ- 
ence and  election  is  good,  for  it  maketh  the  persons 
preferred  more  thankefuU,  and  the  rest  more  officious, 
because  all  is  of  fauour.  ^  It  is  good  not  to  make  too 
much  of  any  man  at  first,  because  one  cannot  holde 
out  that  proportion.  ^  To  be  gouerned  by  one  is  not 
good,  and  to  be  distracted  with  many  is  worse  ;  but  to 
take  aduise  of  friends  is  ever  honorable :  For  lookers  on 
many  times  see  more  then  gamesters^  And  the  vale  best 
discouereth  the  hill.  ^  There  is  little  friendship  in  the 
worlde,  and  least  of  all  betweene  equals  ;   which  was 


296  APPENDIX  II. 

wont  to  bee  magnified.  That  that  is,  is  betweene  su- 
periour  and  inferiour,  whose  fortunes  may  comprehend 
the  one  the  other. 


Or  SuTES. 


Manie  ill  matters  are  vndertaken,  and  many  good 
matters  with  ill  mindes.  Some  embrace  Sutes  which 
neuer  meane  to  deale  effectually  in  them.  But  if  they 
see  there  may  be  life  in  the  matter  by  some  other 
meane,  they  will  be  content  to  winne  a  thanke  or  take 
a  second  reward.  Some  take  holde  of  Sutes  onely  for 
an  occasion  to  crosse  some  other,  or  to  make  an  infor- 
mation wherof  they  could  not  otherwise  have  an  apt 
precept,^  without  care  what  become  of  the  Sute,  when 
that  turne  is  serued.  Nay  some  vndertake  Sutes  with 
a  full  purpose  to  let  them  fall,  to  the  ende  to  gratifie 
the  adverse  partie  or  competitor.  ^  Surely  there  is  in 
sorte  a  right  in  euerie  Sute,  either  a  right  of  equitie,  if 
it  be  a  Sute  of  controuersie  ;  or  a  right  of  desert,  if  it 
bee  a  Sute  of  petition.  If  affection  leade  a  man  to 
fauor  the  wrong  side  in  iustice,  let  him  rather  vse  his 
countenance  to  compound  the  matter  then  to  carrie  it. 
If  affection  lead  a  man  to  fauour  the  lesse  worthy  in 
desert,  let  him  doe  it,  without  deprauing  or  disabling 
the  better  deseruer.  ^  In  Sutes  a  man  doth  not  wel 
vnderstand,  it  is  good  to  referre  them  to  some  friend  of 
trust  and  iudgement,  that  may  reporte  whether  he  may 
deale  in  them  with  honor.  ^  Suters  are  so  distasted 
with  delaies  and  abuses,  that  plaine  dealing  in  denying 
to  deale  in  Sutes  at  first,  and  reporting  the  successe 

1  So  in  the  original:  a  mistake,  no  doubt,  ior pretext. 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.  297 

barely,  and  in  challendging  no  more  thankes  then  one 
hath  deserued,  is  growen  not  only  honourable  but  also 
gracious.  ^  In  Sutes  of  fauor  the  first  comming  ought 
to  take  little  place,  so  far  forth  consideration  may  bee 
had  of  his  trust,  that  if  intelligence  of  the  matter 
coulde  not  otherwise  haue  beene  had  but  by  him,  ad- 
uantage  be  not  taken  of  the  note.  ^  To  be  ignorant 
of  the  value  of  a  Sute  is  simplicitie,  as  wel  as  to  be 
ignorant  of  the  right  thereof  is  want  of  conscience. 
^  Secrecie  in  Sutes  is  a  great  meane  of  obtaining,  for 
voicing  them  to  bee  in  forwardnes  may  discourage 
some  kinde  of  suters,  but  doth  quicken  and  awake 
others.  ^  But  tyming  of  the  Sutes  is  the  principall, 
tyming  I  saye  not  onely  in  respect  of  the  person  that 
shoulde  graunt  it,  but  in  respect  of  those  which  are  like 
to  crosse  it.  ^  Nothing  is  thought  so  easie  a  request 
to  a  great  person  as  his  letter,  and  yet  if  it  bee  not  in 
a  good  cause,  it  is  so  much  out  of  his  reputation. 


Of  Expence. 


Riches  are  for  spending,  and  spending  for  honour 
and  good  actions.  Therefore  extraordlnarie  Expence 
must  bee  limited  by  the  worth  of  the  ocasion  ;  for  vol- 
untarie  vndoing  may  bee  as  well  for  a  mans  countrie  as 
for  the  kingdome  of  heauen.  But  ordinarie  expence 
ought  to  bee  limited  by  a  mans  estate,  and  gouerned 
with  such  regard,  as  it  be  within  his  compasse,  and  not 
subiect  to  deceite  and  abuse  of  seruants,  and  ordered  to 
the  best  shew,  that  the  Bils  maye  be  lesse  then  the  esti- 
mation abroad.  ^  It  is  no  basenes  for  the  greatest  to 
descend  and  looke  into  their  owne  estate.     Some  for- 


298  APPENDIX  II. 

beare  it  not  vpon  negligence  alone,  but  doubting  to 
bring  themselues  into  Melancholy  in  respect  they  shall 
finde  it  broken.  But  woundes  cannot  bee  cured  without 
searching.  ^  He  that  cannot  looke  into  his  owne 
estate,  had  neede  both  choose  well  those  whom  he  im- 
ployeth,  yea  and  change  them  after.  ^  For  new  are 
more  timerous  and  lesse  subtle.  ^  In  clearing  of  a 
mans  estate  hee  may  as  well  hurt  himselfe  in  being  too 
suddaine,  as  in  letting  it  runne  on  too  long,  for  hastie 
selling  is  commonly  as  disaduantageable  as  interest. 
^  He  that  hath  a  state  to  repaire  may  not  despise 
small  things  ;  and  commonly  it  is  lesse  dishonourable 
to  abridge  pettie  charges  then  to  stoupe  to  pettie  get- 
tings.  ^  A  man  ought  warily  to  begin  charges,  which 
once  begunne  must  continue.  But  in  matters  that 
returne  not,  he  may  be  more  magnificent. 


Of  Regiment  of  Health. 

There  is  a  wisdome  in  this  beyond  the  rules  of 
Phisicke.  A  mans  owne  obseruation  what  hee  finds 
good  of,  and  what  he  findes  hurt  of,  is  the  best  Phys- 
icke  to  preserve  health.  But  it  is  a  safer  conclusion 
to  say,  This  agreeth  well  with  me,  therefore  I  will  con- 
tinue it,2  then  this  I  finde  no  ofience,  of  this  therefore 
I  may  vse  it.  For  strength  of  nature  in  youth  passeth 
ouer  many  excesses,  which  are  owing  a  man  till  his 
age.  ^  Disceme  of  the  comming  on  of  yeares,  and 
thinke  not  to  doe  the  same  things  still.  ^  Beware  of 
any  suddain  change  in  any  great  point  of  diet,  and  if 

1  So  in  the  original :  a  mistake  for  often. 

2  So  in  the  original :  it  should  be  not  well,  and  rwt  continue. 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.  299 

necessitie  inforce  it,  fit  the  rest  to  it.  ^  To  be  free 
minded  and  chearefully  disposed  at  howers  of  meate, 
and  of  sleepe,  and  of  exercise,  is  the  best  precept  of 
long  lasting.  ^  If  you  flie  Physicke  in  health  alto- 
gether, it  will  be  too  strange  to  your  body  when  you 
shall  need  it,  if  you  make  it  too  famiHar,  it  will 
worke  no  extraordinarie  effect  when  sicknesse  com- 
meth.  ^  Despise  no  new  accident  in  the  body,  but 
aske  opinion  of  it.  ^  In  sicknesse  respect  health  prin- 
cipally, and  in  health  action.  For  those  that  put  their 
bodies  to  indure  in  health,  may  in  most  sickenesses 
which  are  not  very  sharpe,  be  cured  onelye  with  diet 
and  tendring. 

^  Physitians  are  some  of  them  so  pleasing  and  con- 
formable to  the  humours  of  the  patient,  as  they  presse 
not  the  true  cure  of  the  disease  ;  and  some  other  are 
so  regular  in  proceeding  according  to  Arte  for  the  dis- 
ease, as  they  respect  not  sufficiently  the  condition  of 
the  patient.  Take  one  of  a  middle  temper,  or  if  it 
may  not  bee  found  in  one  man,  compound  two  of  both 
sorts,  and  forget  not  to  cal  as  wel  the  best  aquainted 
with  your  body,  as  the  best  reputed  of  for  his  facultie. 


Of  Honour  and  reputation. 

The  winning  of  Honour  is  but  the  reuealing  of  a 
mans  vertue  and  worth  without  disadvantage,  for  some 
in  their  actions  doe  affect  Honour  and  reputation, 
which  sort  of  men  are  commonly  much  talked  of,  but 
inwardly  little  admired  :  and  some  darken  their  vertue 
in  the  shew  of  it,  so  as  they  be  vnder-valewed  in  opin- 
ion.    ^  If  a  man  performe  that  which  hath  not  beene 


300  APPENDIX  II. 

attempted  before,  or  attempted  and  giuen  ouer,  or  hath 
been  atchieued,  but  not  with  so  good  circumstance,  he 
shall  purchase  more  Honour,  then  by  effecting  a  matter 
of  greater  difficulty  or  vertue,  wherein  he  is  but  a  fol- 
lower. ^  If  a  man  so  temper  his  actions  as  in  some 
one  of  them  hee  doe  content  euerie  faction  or  combina- 
tion of  people,  the  Musicke  will  be  the  fuller.  ^  A 
man  is  an  ill  husband  of  his  Honour  that  entereth 
into  any  action,  the  failing  wherein  may  disgrace  him 
more  then  the  carrying  of  it  through  can  Honour 
him.  ^  Discreete  followers  helpe  much  to  reputation. 
^  Enuie  which  is  the  canker  of  Honour,  is  best  extin- 
guished by  declaring  a  mans  selfe  in  his  ends,  rather  to 
seeke  merite  then  fame,  and  by  attributing  a  mans  suc- 
cesses rather  to  diuine  prouidence  and  felicitie  then  to 
his  vertue  or  pollicie. 

^  The  true  Marshalling  of  the  degrees  of  Souer- 
aigne  honour  are  these.  In  the  first  place  are  Con- 
ditores,  founders  of  states.  In  the  second  place  are 
Legislatores  Law-giuers,  which  are  also  called  second 
founders,  or  Perpetui  principes,  because  they  goueme 
by  their  ordinances  after  they  are  gone.  In  the  third 
place  are  lAberatores,  such  as  compound  the  long  mis- 
eries of  ciuill  warres,  or  deliver  their  countries  from 
servitude  of  strangers  or  tyrants.  In  the  fourth  place 
are  Propagatores  or  Propugnatores  imperii^  such  as  in 
honourable  warres  enlarge  their  territories,  or  make 
noble  defence  against  Inuaders.  And  in  the  last  place 
are  Patres  patrice,  which  raigne  justly  and  make  the 
times  good  wherein  they  Hue.  Degrees  of  honour  in 
subiects  are  first  Participes  curarum,  those  upon  whome 
Princes  doe  discharge  the  greatest  waight  of  their 
affaires,  their  Might  handes  (as  we  call  them.)     The 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.  301 

next  are  Duces  belli,  great  leaders,  such  as  are  Princes, 
Lieutenants,  and  do  them  notable  services  in  the  wars. 
The  third  are  G-ratiosi,  fauorites,  such  as  exceede  not 
this  scantling  to  bee  sollace  to  the  Soueraigne,  and 
harmelesse  to  the  people.  And  the  fourth  Negotiis 
pares,  such  as  have  great  place  vnder  Princes,  and 
execute  their  places  with  sufficiencie. 


Of  Faction. 


Manie  have  a  newe  wisedome,  indeed,  a  fond  opin- 
ion ;  That  for  a  Prince  to  gouerne  his  estate,  or  for  a 
great  person  to  governe  his  proceedings  according  to 
the  respects  of  Factions,  is  the  principal  part  of  pol- 
licie.  Whereas  contrariwise,  the  chiefest  wisedome  is 
either  in  ordering  those  things  which  are  generall,  and 
wherein  men  of  severall  Factions  doe  neuerthelesse 
agree,  or  in  dealing  with  correspondence  to  particular 
persons  one  by  one.  But  I  say  not  that  the  considera- 
tion of  Factions  is  to  be  neglected. 

^  Meane  men  must  adheare,  but  great  men  that 
haue  strength  in  themselues  were  better  to  maintaine 
themselues  indifferent  and  neutrall ;  yet  euen  in  begin- 
ners to  adheare  so  moderatly,  as  he  be  a  man  of  the 
one  Faction,  which  is  passablest  with  the  other,  com- 
monly giveth  best  way.  ^  The  lower  and  weaker 
Faction  is  the  firmer  in  conjunction.  %  When  one  of 
the  Factions  is  extinguished,  the  remaining  subdiuideth 
which  is  good  for  a  second  Faction.  It  is  commonly 
scene  that  men  once  placed,  take  in  with  the  contrarie 
faction  to  that  by  which  they  enter.  ^  The  traitor  in 
Factions  lightly  goeth  away  with  it,  for  when  mat- 


302 


APPENDIX  n. 


ters  have  stucke  long  in  ballancing,  the  winning  of 
some  one  man  casteth  them,  and  hee  getteth  al  the 
thankes. 


Of  Negociating. 

It  is  generally  better  to  deale  by  speech  then  by  let- 
ter, and  by  the  mediation  of  a  thirde  then  by  a  mans, 
selfe.  Letters  are  good  when  a  man  woulde  drawe  ai 
answere  by  letter  backe  againe,  or  when  it  may  serue] 
for  a  mans  iustification  afterwards  to  produce  his  owne 
letter.  To  deale  in  person  is  good  when  a  mans  face 
breedes  regard,  as  commonly  with  inferiours.  ^  In 
choyce  of  instruments  it  is  better  to  choose  men  of  a 
plainer  sorte  that  are  like  to  doe  that  that  is  committed 
to  them  ;  and  to  reporte  backe  againe  faithfully  the 
successe,  then  those  that  are  cunning  to  contriue  out. 
of  other  mens  businesse  somewhat  to  grace  themseluesJ 
and  will  helpe  the  matter  in  reporte  for  satisfactioi 
sake. 

^  It  is  better  to  sound  a  person  with  whome  one 
deales  a  farre  off,  then  to  fal  vppon  the  pointe  at  first, 
except  you  meane  to  surprise  him  by  some  shorte  ques- 
tion. ^  It  is  better  deahng  with  men  in  appetite  then 
those  which  are  where  they  would  be.  ^  If  a  man 
deale  with  another  vppon  conditions,  the  starte  or  first 
performance  is  all,  which  a  man  can  not  reasonably  de- 
maunde,  except  either  the  nature  of  the  thing  be  such 
which  must  goe  before,  or  else  a  man  can  perswade  the 
other  partie  that  he  shall  still  neede  him  in  some  other 
thing,  or  else  that  he  bee  counted  the  honester  man. 
^  All  practise  is  to  discouer  or  to  worke  :  men  dis- 
couer  themselues  in  trust,  in  passion,  at  vnwares  and 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.  303 

of  necessitie,  when  they  would  haue  somewhat  donne, 
and  cannot  finde  an  apt  precept. ^  If  you  would  worke 
any  man,  you  must  either  know  his  nature  and  fashions 
and  so  leade  him,  or  his  ends,  and  so  winne  him,  or  his 
weaknesses  or  disaduantages,  and  so  awe  him,  or  those 
that  haue  interest  in  him  and  so  gouerne  him.  ^  In 
dealing  with  cunning  persons  we  must  euer  consider 
their  endes  to  interpret  their  speeches,  and  it  is  good 
to  say  little  to  them,  and  that  which  they  least  looke 
for. 


1  So  in  the  original :  the  second  time  the  same  mistake  occurs.    It  should, 
of  course,  hQ  pretext. 


Edition  of  1612. 

It  is  a  fact  very  creditable  to  the  reading  public  of 
those  days,  that  a  volume  which  offers  no  entertain- 
ment except  solid  observation,  packed  as  close  as  pos- 
sible and  stripped  of  all  ornament,  was  thrice  reprinted 
within  nine  years  after  its  first  appearance,  viz.  in  1598, 
in  1604,  and  in  1606.  It  is  doubtful  however  whether 
Bacon  himself  had  anything  to  do  with  any  of  these 
editions ;  which  are  said  to  have  been  merely  reprints, 
without  addition  or  alteration,  except  some  changes  in 
the  spelling,  and  the  substitution  of  an  English  transla- 
tion of  the  Meditationes  sacroe  for  the  original  Latin. 

The  earliest  evidence  of  additions  and  alterations 
which  I  have  met  with,  is  contained  in  a  volume  pre- 
served among  the  Harleian  MSS.  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum, No.  5106. ;  a  volume  undoubtedly  authentic  ; 
for  it  contains  interlineations  in  Bacon's  own  hand ; 
and  transcribed  some  time  between  1607,  when  Bacon 
became  Solicitor-general,  and  1612,  when  he  brought 
out  a  new  edition  of  the  Essays  with  further  additions 
and  alterations.  It  is  unluckily  not  quite  perfect ;  one 
leaf  at  least,  if  not  more,  having  been  lost  at  the  begin- 
ning ;  though  otherwise  in  excellent  preservation. 

The  titlepage,  which  remains,  bears  the  following 
inscription,  very  handsomely  written  in  the  old  English 
character,  with  flourished  capitals  :    The  writings  of  Sr 

VOL.  XII.  20 


306 


APPENDIX  II. 


Francis  Bacon  Knt.  the  Kinge's  SolUcitor  Crenerall :  in 
Moralitie,  Polieie,  and  Historie. 

It  contains  nothing  but  Essays ;  which  stand  in  the 
following  order :  — 


1. 

2. 

Of  Friendship   (the  begin- 
ning wanting). 
Of    Wisdom    for   a   Man's 

17. 

18. 
19. 

Of  Despatch. 

Of  Deformity. 

Of  Young  Men  and  Age. 

Self. 

20. 

Of  Faction. 

3. 

Of  Nobility. 

21. 

Of    Honour    and    Reputa- 

4. 

Of  Goodness  and  Goodness 

tion. 

of  Nature. 

22. 

Of   Marriage    and    Single 

5. 
6. 

Of  Beauty. 

Of  Seeming  Wise. 

23. 

Life. 
Of  Parents  and  Children. 

7. 

Of  Regiment  of  Health. 

24. 

Of  Great  Place. 

8. 
9. 

Of  Expences. 
Of  Ambition. 

25. 
26. 

Of  Empire. 
Of  Counsel. 

10. 

Of    Ceremonies    and     Re- 

27. 

Of  Atheism. 

11. 

spects. 
Of  Studies. 

28. 
29. 

Of  Superstition. 
Of  Praise. 

12. 

Of  Discourse. 

30. 

Of  Nature  in  Men. 

13. 

Of  Riches. 

31. 

Of  Custom  and  Education. 

14. 

Of  Followers  and  Friends. 

32. 

Of  Fortune. 

15. 

Of  Suitors. 

33. 

Of  Death. 

16. 

Of  Negociating. 

34. 

Of  Seditions  and  Troubles. 

Of  these,  two  only  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  edition 
of  1612 ;  viz.  the  twenty-first  (which  is  included  in 
the  edition  both  of  1597  and  1625)  and  the  thirty- 
fourth,  which  was  not  published  till  1625,  though  an 
Italian  translation  of  it  had  been  given  in  Sir  Tobie 
Matthew's  Saggi  Morally  in  1618.  As  this  stands  last 
in  the  volume,  and  the  rest  of  the  leaves  are  left  blank, 
it  is  impossible  to  say  whether  it  was  transcribed  at  the 
same  time  with  the  rest,  or  added  at  a  later  period. 
But  I  cannot  detect  any  difference  in  the  hand-writing, 
the  colour  of  the  ink,  or  the  general  appearance  of  it. 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.  307 

This  last  I  have  added  at  the  end.  The  others  I  have 
compared  with  the  copies  in  the  edition  of  1612 ;  and 
although  I  have  not  thought  it  worth  while  to  make  an 
exact  and  perfect  collation,  I  have  marked  all  the  more 
considerable  variations  between  the  two ;  so  that  by 
means  of  the  table  of  contents  which  I  have  just  given, 
and  the  foot-notes  which  follow,  a  full  and  particular 
account  of  the  contents  of  the  manuscript  volume  may 
be  obtained. 

The  reprint  of  the  edition  of  1612,  which  I  now 
subjoin,  preserving  (except  in  the  case  of  mere  mis- 
prints) the  original  orthography  and  punctuation,  has 
been  compared  with  two  copies  in  my  own  possession, 
both  of  which  have  been  corrected  here  and  there  with 
a  pen,  apparently  by  the  same  hand.  The  corrections 
being  the  same  in  both  and  made  in  the  same  way, 
I  presume  that  they  were  inserted  by  Bacon's  own 
direction;  see  note  1,  p.  359. 


THE 


ESSAIES 


OP 


SIE   FKANCIS    BACON    Knight 


THE  KINGS  SOLLICITER  GENERALL. 


Imprinted  at  London  by  Iohn  Beale, 
1612. 


THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORIE. 


To  my  Loving  Brother,  Sir  Iohn  Constable  Knight. 

My  last  Essaies  I  dedicated  to  my  deare  brother  Master 
Anthony  Bacon,  who  is  with  Grod.  Looking  amongst 
my  papers  this  vacation^  I  found  others  of  the  same  iVo- 
ture :  which  if  I  my  selfe  shall  not  suffer  to  he  lost^  it 
seemeth  the  World  will  not ;  hy  the  often  printing  of  the 
former.  Missing  my  Brother^  I  found  you  next ;  in 
respect  of  bond  both  of  neare  alliance^  and  of  straight 
friendship  and  societie,  and  particularly  of  communica- 
tion in  studies.  Wherein  I  must  acknowledge  my  selfe 
behx>lding  to  you.  For  as  my  businesse  found  rest  in  my 
contemplations  ;  so  my  contemplations  euer  found  rest  in 
your  louing  conference  and  iudgement.  So  wishing  you 
all  good,  Iremaine 

Your  louing  brother  and  friend, 

Fra.  Bacon. 


THE    TABLE. 


1. 

Of  Religion. 

20. 

Of  Seeming  wise. 

2. 

Of  Death. 

21. 

Of  Riches. 

3. 

Of  Goodnes  and  goodnes  of 

22. 

Of  Ambition. 

nature. 

23. 

Of  Young  men  and  age. 

4. 

Of  Cunning. 

24. 

Of  Beautie. 

5. 

Of  Marriage  and  single  life. 

25. 

Of  Deformitie. 

6. 

Of  Parents  and  Children. 

26. 

Of  nature  in  Men. 

7. 

Of  Nobilitie. 

27. 

Of  Custome  and  Education. 

8. 

Of  Great  place. 

28. 

Of  Fortune. 

9. 

Of  Empire. 

29. 

Of  Studies. 

10. 

Of  Counsell. 

30. 

Of  Ceremonies  and  respects. 

11. 

Of  Dispatch. 

31. 

Of  Sutors. 

12. 

Of  Loue. 

32. 

Of  Followers. 

13. 

Of  Friendshippe. 

33. 

Of  Negociating. 

14. 

Of  Atheisme. 

34. 

Of  Faction. 

15. 

Of  Superstition. 

35. 

Of  Praise. 

16. 

Of  Wisdome  for  a  Mans 

36. 

Of  Judicature. 

selfe. 

37. 

Of  vaine  glory. 

17. 

Of  Regiment  of  Health. 

38. 

Of  greatnes  of  Kingdomes. 

18. 

Of  Expences. 

89. 

Of  the  publike. 

19. 

Of  Discourse. 

40. 

Of  Warre  and  peace. 

ESSAIES. 


1.    Of  Religion. 

The  quarrels,  and  diuisions  for  Religion^  were  euils 
vnknowne  to  the  Heathen :  and  no  maruell ;  for  it  is 
the  true  God  that  is  the  iealous  God ;  and  the  gods  of 
the  Heathen  were  good  fellowes.  But  yet  the  bonds  of 
religious  vnity,  are  so  to  be  strengthened,  as  the  bonds 
of  humane  society  be  not  dissolued.  Lucretius  the 
Poet,  when  hee  beheld  the  act  of  Agamemnon^  in  dur- 
ing and  assisting  at  the  sacrifice  of  his  daughter,  con- 
cludes with  this  verse ; 

Tantu  relligio  potuit  suadere  malorum. 

But  what  would  hee  haue  done,  if  he  had  knowne  the 
massacre  of  France,  or  the  powder  treason  of  England? 
Certainly  he  would  haue  beene  seuen  times  more  Epi- 
cure and  Atheist  then  he  was.  Nay,  hee  would  rather 
haue  chosen  to  be  one  of  the  Madmen  of  Munster,  then 
to  haue  beene  a  partaker  of  those  Counsels.  For  it  is 
better  that  Religion  should  deface  mens  vnderstanding, 
then  their  piety  and  charitie  ;  retaining  reason  onely 
but  as  an  Engine,  and  Charriot  driuer  of  cruelty,  and 
malice.     It  was  a  great  blasphemie,  when  the  Diuell 


316 


APPENDIX  II. 


said ;  I  will  ascend^  and  he  like  the  highest :  but  it  is  a 
greater  blasphemie,  if  they  make  God  to  say ;  I  will 
descend^  and  he  like  the  Prince  of  Darknesse :  and  it 
is  no  better,  when  they  make  the  cause  of  Religion 
descend,  to  the  execrable  accions  of  murthering  of 
Princes,  butchery  of  people,  and  firing  of  States.  Nei- 
ther is  there  such  a  sinne  against  the  person  of  the  holy 
Ghost,  (if  one  should  take  it  literally)  as  in  stead  of 
the  likenes  of  a  Doue^  to  bring  him  downe  in  the  like- 
nesse  of  a  Vulture,  or  Rauen ;  nor  such  a  scandall  to 
their  Church,  as  out  of  the  Barke  of  Saint  Peter,  to 
set  forth  the  flagge  of  a  Barke  of  Pirats  and  Assassins, 
Therefore  since  these  things  are  the  common  enemies 
of  humane  society ;  Princes  by  their  power ;  Ohurchea 
by  their  Decrees ;  and  all  learning.  Christian,  morall, 
of  what  soeuer  sect,  or  opinion,  by  their  Mercuric  rod ; 
ought  to  ioyne  in  the  damning  to  Hell  for  euer,  these 
facts,  and  their  supports  :  and  in  all  Counsels  concern- 
ing Religion,  that  Counsell  of  the  Apostle,  would  be 
prefixed,  Ira  hominis  non  implet  iustitiam  Dei. 


2.    Of  Death. 

Men  feare  death,  as  Children  feare  to  goe  in  the 
darke:  and  as  that  naturall  feare  in  Children  is  en- 
creased  with  tales  ;  so  is  the  other.  Certainely  the 
feare  of  death  in  contemplation  of  the  cause  of  it,  and 
the  issue  of  it,  is  religious :  but  the  feare  of  it,  for  it 
selfe,  is  weake.  Yet  in  religious  meditations  there  is 
mixture  of  vanitie,  and  of  superstition.  You  shall 
reade  in  some  of  the  Friers  Bookes  of  Mortification, 
that  a  man  should  thinke  with  himselfe,  what  the  paine 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.  317 

is,  if  he  haue  but  his  fingers  end  pressed,  or  tortured ; 
and  thereby  imagine  what  the  paines  of  Death  are, 
when  the  whole  body  is  corrupted  and  dissolued :  when 
many  times,  Death  passeth  with  lesse  paine,  then  the 
torture  of  a  limme.  For  the  most  vitall  parts  are  not 
the  quickest  of  sence.  And  to  speake  as  a  Philosopher 
or  naturall  man,  it  was  well  said,  Pompa  mortis  magis 
terret,  qudm  mors  ipsa.  Grones,  and  Conuulsions,  and 
a  discoloured  face,  and  friends  weeping,  and  Blackes 
and  obsequies,  and  the  like,  shew  death  terrible.  It  is 
worthie  the  obseruing,  that  there  is  no  passion  in  the 
minde  of  man  so  weake,  but  masters  the  feare  of  death ; 
and  therefore  death  is  no  such  enemy,  when  a  man 
hath  so  many  followers  about  him,  that  can  winne  the 
combat  of  him.  Reuenge  triumphes  ouer  death,  Loue 
esteems  it  not.  Honour  aspireth  to  it,  deliuery  from 
Ignominy  chuseth  it,  Griefe  flieth  to  it,  Feare  preoc- 
upateth  it:  nay  we  see  after  Otho  had  slain  himselfe, 
pitty  (which  is  the  tendrest  of  affections)  prouoked 
many  to  die.  Seneca  speaketh  of  nicenesse  :  Cogita 
qudm  diu  eadem  feceris ;  Mori  velle  non  tantum  fortis^ 
aut  miser,  sed  etiam  fastidiosus  potest.  It  is  no  lesse 
worthy  to  obserue  how  little  alteration  in  good  spirits 
the  approaches  of  death  make  :  but  they  are  the  same 
till  the  last.  Augustus  Ccesar  died  in  a  complement, 
Tiberius  in  dissimulation,  Vespasian  in  a  iest,  Galba 
with  a  sentence,  Septimus  Seuerus  in  dispatch ;  ^  and 
the  like.  Certainely  the  Stoihes  bestowed  too  much 
cost  vpon  death,  and  by  their  great  preparations  made 
it  appeare  more  fearefiill.  Better  saith  he.  Qui  finem 
vitce  extremum  inter  munera  ponat  naturce.  It  is  as 
naturall  to  die,  as  to  bee  borne  ;  and  to  a  little  Infant 
perhaps,  the  one  as  painefull,  as  the  other. 

1  The  last  clause  is  omitted  in  the  MS. 


318 


APPENDIX  n. 


3.    Of  Goodnesse,  and  goodnes  of  Nature. 

I  take  goodnesse  in  this  sence,  the  affecting  of  the 
Weale  of  men,  which  is,  that  the  Crrcecians  call  PM- 
lanthropia  ;  for  the  word  humanitie  (as  it  is  vsed)  it  is 
a  little  too  light,  to  expresse  it.  Cfoodnesse  I  call  the 
habite ;  and  goodnesse  of  Nature^  the  inclination.  This 
of  all  vertues,  is  the  greatest :  being  the  character  of 
the  Deitie  ;  and  without  it,  man  is  a  busie,  mischeuous, 
wretched  thing :  no  better  then  a  kind  of  vermine. 
Goodnesse  answers  to  the  Theologicall  vertue  Charity^ 
and  admits  not  excesse,  but  error.  The  Italians^  haue 
an  vngracious  prouerbe,  Tanto  huon^  che  vol  niente;  So 
good^  that  he  is  good  for  nothing.  And  one  of  the  Doc- 
tors of  Italie,  Nicholas  Machiauel  had  the  confidence  to 
put  in  writing,  almost  in  plaine  termes ;  That  the  Chris- 
tian faith  had  giuen  vp  good  men  in  prey^  to  those  that 
are  tyrannicall  and  vniust ;  which  hee  spake,  because 
indeed  there  was  neuer  law,  or  sect,  or  opinion,  did  so 
much  magnifie  goodnes,  as  the  Christian  religion  doth. 
Therefore  to  auoid  the  scandall,  and  the  danger  both ; 
it  is  good  to  take  knowledge  of  the  errors  of  an  habite 
so  excellent.  Seek  the  good  of  other  men,  but  be  not 
in  bodage  to  their  faces  or  fancies  :  for  that  is  but 
facility,  and  softnesse ;  which  taketh  an  honest  minde 
prisoner.  Neither  giue  thou  j^sops  Cocke  a  gem^  who 
would  be  better  pleased  and  happier,  if  he  had  had  a 
Barly  corn.  The  example  of  God  teacheth  the  lesso 
truly.  He  sendeth  his  raine,  and  maketh  his  sunne 
to  shine  vpon  the  iust,  and  vniust;  but  hee  doth  not 
raine  wealth,  nor  shine  honour  ^  and  vertues  vpon  men 
equally.      Common  benefits  are  to  bee  communicate 

1  honors  in  MS. 


EARLY  EDITIONS   OF  THE  ESSAYS.  319 

with  all,  but  peculiar  benefits  with  choise.  And  be- 
ware how  in  making  the  portraiture,  thou  breakest  the 
patterne.  For  Diuinitie  maketh  the  loue  of  our  selues 
the  patterne,  the  loue  of  our  neighbours  but  the  Por- 
traiture. Sell  all  thou  hast  and  giue  it  to  the  poore,  and 
follow  me  ;  but  sell  not  all  thou  hast,  except  thou  come 
and  follow  me ;  that  is,  except  thou  haue  a  vocation, 
wherein  thou  maiest  doe  as  much  good  with  little 
meanes,  as  with  great :  For  otherwise  in  feeding  the 
stremes,  thou  driest  the  fountaine.  Neither  is  there 
onely  a  habite  of  goodnesse,  directed  by  right  reason  : 
but  there  is  in  some  men,  euen  in  nature^  a  disposition 
towards  it :  as  on  the  other  side,  there  is  a  naturall 
malignity.  For  there  bee  that  in  their  nature  doe  not 
affect  the  good  of  others  :  the  lighter  sort  of  malignitie, 
tumeth  but  to  a  crossenesse,  or  frowardnesse,  or  apt- 
nesse  to  oppose,  or  difficilnesse,  or  the  like :  but  the 
deeper  sort,  to  enuie  and  meere  mischief.  There  be 
many  Misanthropic^  that  make  it  their  practise  to  bring 
men  to  the  bough,  and  yet  haue  neuer  a  tree  for  the 
purpose  in  their  gardens,  as  Timon  had.^  Such  dis- 
positions are  the  very  errors  of  huma7i  nature :  and  yet 
they  are  the  fittest  timber  to  make  great  Politiques  of; 
like  to  knee-timber  that  is  good  for  shippes  that  are  or- 
dained to  be  tossed,  but  not  for  building  houses  that 
shall  stand  firme. 


4.    Of  Cunning. 

Wee  take  Cunning  for  a  sinister  or  crooked  Wis- 
donie :  and  certainely  there  is  a  great  difference  be- 

1  The  MS.  omits  the  words  "  Misanthrcfpi,''  and  "as  Timon  had." 


APPENDIX  II. 


tweene  a  cunning  man,  and  a  wise  man  :  not  onely  il 
point  of  honesty,  but  in  point  of  ability.  There  be  that 
can  pack  the  cards  and  yet  cannot  play  well.  So  thei 
are  some,  that  are  good  in  canuasses  and  factions,  thai 
are  otherwise  weake  men.  Againe,  it  is  one  thing 
vnderstand  persons,  and  another  thing  to  vnderstahd^ 
matters :  for  many  are  perfect  in  mens  humors,  that 
are  not  greatly  capable  of  the  reall  part  of  businesse  ; 
which  is  the  constitution  of  one,  that  hath  studied  men 
more  then  bookes.  Such  men  are  fitter  for  practise, 
then  for  counsell,  and  they  are  good  but  in  their  owne 
Alley ;  turne  them  to  new  men,  and  they  haue  lost 
their  aime.  So  as  the  old  rule  to  know  a  foole  from 
a  wise  man ;  Mitte  amhos  nudos  ad  ignotos  ^  videhis  ; 
doth  scarse  hold  for  them.  Euen  in  businesse  there 
are  some  that  know  the  resorts  and  fals  of  busines,  that 
cannot  sinke  into  the  maine  of  it ;  like  a  house  that 
hath  conuenient  staires  and  entries,  but  neuer  a  faire 
roome.  Therefore  you  shall  see  them  finde  out  pretty 
looses  in  the  conclusion,  but  are  no  waies  able  to  exam- 
ine or  debate  matters :  and  yet  commonly  they  take 
aduantage  of  their  inability,  &  would  be  thought  wits 
of  direction.  Some  build  rather  vpon  abusing  others, 
and  as  wee  now  say,  putting  trickes  vpon  them,  then 
vpon  soundnesse  of  their  owne  proceedings.  But  Salo- 
mon saith,  Prudens  aduertit  ad  gressus  suos :  stultus 
diuertit  ad  dolos.  Very  many  are  the  differences  be- 
tweene  cunning  and  wisdome :  and  it  were  a  good  deed 
to  set  them  downe :  for  that  nothing  doth  more  hurte 
in  state  then  that  cunning  men  passe  for  wise. 


EARLY  EDITIONS   OF  THE  ESSAYS  321 

5.    Of  Marriage  and  single  life. 

Hee  that  hath  wife  and  children,  hath  giuen  hos- 
tages to  fortune.  For  they  are  impediments  to  great 
enterprises,  either  of  vertue  or  mischief.  Certainly  the 
best  works,  and  of  greatest  merit  for  the  publike  haue 
proceeded  from  the  vnmarried,  or  childlesse  men ; 
which  haue  sought  eternity  in  memory,  and  not  in 
posterity;  and  which  both  in  affection  and  means,  haue 
married  and  endowed  the  publike.  Yet  some  there 
are,  that  lead  a  single  life  whose  thoughts  doe  ende 
with  themselues,  and  doe  accoimt  future  times,  imper- 
tinences. Nay  there  are  some  others,  that  esteeme 
wife  &  children,  but  as  bils  of  charges.  But  the  most 
ordinarie  cause  of  a  single  life,  is  liberty ;  specially  in 
certain  self-pleasing  &  humorous  minds,  which  are 
so  sensible  of  euery  restriction,  as  they  wil  go  neere 
to  thinke  their  girdles  and  garters  to  be  bonds  and 
shakles.  Vnmarried  men  are  best  friends ;  best  mas- 
ters ;  best  seruants  ;  not  alwaies  best  subiects  ;  for  they 
are  light  to  run  away  ;  and  almost  all  fugitiues  are  of 
that  conditio.  A  single  life  is  proper  for  Churchmen. 
For  charity  wil  hardly  water  the  ground,  where  it  must 
first  fill  a  poole.  It  is  indifferent  for  ludges  and  Mag- 
istrates. For  if  they  be  facile  &  corrupt,  you  shall 
haue  a  seruant  fine  times  worse  the  a  wife.  For  Soul- 
diers,  I  find  the  Generals  commonly  in  their  hortatiues, 
put  men  in  minde  of  their  wiues,  and  children  :  and  I 
thinke  the  despising  of  marriage,  amongst  the  Turkes, 
maketh  the  vulgar  Souldier  more  base.  Certainely, 
wife  and  children  are  a  kinde  of  discipline  of  human- 
ity :  and  single  men  are  more  cruell  and  hard-hearted  : 
good  to  make  seuere  inquisitors.     Graue  natures  led  by 

VOL.    XII.  21 


322  APPENDIX  II. 

custome,  and  therefore  constant,  are  commonly  louing 
husbands  :  as  was  said  of  Ulisses ;  Vetulam  proetulit 
immortalitati.  Chaste  women  are  often  proud  and 
froward,  as  presuming  vpon  the  merit  of  their  chastity. 
It  is  one  of  the  best  bonds  both  of  chastity  &  obedi- 
ence in  the  wife ;  if  shee  thinke  her  husband  wise  ; 
which  shee  will  neuer  doe,  if  shee  finde  him  ielous. 
Wiues  are  young  mens  mistresses  ;  companions  for 
middle  age  ;  and  old  mens  nurses.  So  as  a  man  may 
haue  a  quarrel  to  marry  when  hee  will ;  but  yet  hee 
was  reputed  one  of  the  wise  men,  that  made  answere 
to  the  question ;  Wlien  a  man  should  marrie  f  A  young 
man  not  yet,  an  elder  man  not  at  all. 


6.    Of  Parents  and  Children. 

The  ioyes  of  Parents  are  secret,  and  so  are  their 
griefs  and  feares  :  they  cannot  vtter  the  one,  nor  they 
will  not  vtter  the  other.  Children  sweeten  labors,  but 
they  make  misfortunes  more  bitter :  they  increase  the 
cares  of  life,  but  they  mitigate  the  remembrance  of 
death.  The  perpetuitie  by  generation,  is  common  to 
beasts ;  but  memorie,  merit,  &  noble  works  are  proper 
to  men.  They  that  are  the  first  raisers  of  their  house, 
are  most  indulget  towards  their  children  ;  beholding 
them,  as  the  continuance,  not  only  of  their  kind,  but 
of  their  worke ;  and  so  both  children  and  creatures. 
The  difference  of  affection  in  parents  towards  their  seu- 
erall  children,  is  many  times  vnequall ;  and  sometimes 
vnworthy  ;  specially  in  the  mother  ;  as  Salomon  saith  ; 
A  wise  Sonne  reioiceth  the  Father^  hut  an  vngracious 
son  shames  the  mother,     A  man  shall  see  where  there  is 


I 


EARLY  EDITIONS   OF  THE  ESSAYS.  323 

a  house  full  of  children,  one,  or  two  of  the  eldest  re- 
spected, and  the  youngest  made  wantons  ;  but  in  the 
middle,  some  that  are  as  it  were  forgotten ;  who  neuer- 
thelesse  prooue  the  best.  The  illiberality  of  Parents  in 
allowance  towards  their  children  is  an  harmefull  error : 
makes  them  base ;  acquaints  the  with  shifts,  makes 
them  sort  with  meane  companie ;  and  makes  them 
surfet  more,  when  they  come  to  plenty.  And  there- 
fore the  proofe  is  best,  when  men  keepe  their  authority 
towards  their  children,  but  not  their  purse.  Men  haue 
a  foolish  manner,  both  Parents,  Schoolemasters,  and 
seruants,  in  creating  and  breeding  an  emulation  be- 
tweene  brothers  during  childhood,  which  many  times 
sorteth  to  discord  when  they  are  men,  and  disturbeth 
families.  The  Italians  make  little  difference  betweene 
children  and  nephewes,  or  neere  kinsfolke  :  But  so  they 
be  of  the  lumpe,  they  care  not,  though  they  passe  not 
through  their  owne  body :  and  to  say  truth,  in  nature 
it  is  much  a  like  matter,  in  so  much  that  wee  see  a 
nephewe  sometimes  resembleth  an  vncle,  or  a  kinsman, 
more  than  his  owne  Parent,  as  the  blood  happens. 


7.    Of  Nobility. 


It  is  a  reuerend  thing  to  see  an  ancient  castle  or 
building  not  in  decay ;  or  to  see  a  faire  timber  tree 
sound  &  perfect :  how  much  more  to  behold  an  ancient 
Noble  familie,  which  hath  stood  against  the  wanes  and 
weathers  of  time.  For  new  Nobility  is  but  the  act  of 
power  ;  but  ancient  Nobility  is  the  act  of  time.  The 
first  raisers  of  Fortunes  are  commonly  more  vertuous, 
but  lesse  innocent,  then  their  descendents.     For  there 


324  APPENDIX  II. 

is  rarely  rising,  but  by  a  commixture  of  good  and  euil 
Arts.  But  it  is  reason  the  memorie  of  their  vertues 
remain  to  their  posterities,  and  their  faults  die  with 
themselues.  Nbbilitie  of  Birth  commonly  abateth  in- 
dustrie :  and  hee  that  is  not  industrious,  enuieth  him 
that  is  :  Besides  noble  persons,  cannot  goe  much  high- 
er :  And  he  that  standeth  at  a  stay  when  others  rise, 
can  hardly  auoid  motions  of  enuie.  On  the  other 
side  Nobility  extinguisheth  the  passiue  enuie  in  others 
towards  them  ;  because  they  are  in  possession  of  Hovr 
our :  and  JEnu^  is  as  the  sunne  beames,  that  beate  more 
vpon  a  rising  ground,  then  vpon  a  leuell.  A  great 
Nohilitie  addeth  maiesty  to  a  Monarchy  but  diminisheth 
power  :  and  putteth  life  and  spirit  into  the  people  ;  but 
presseth  their  fortunes.  It  is  well  when  nobles  are 
not  too  great  for  Soueraigntie^  nor  for  lustice;  and  yet 
maintained  in  that  height,  as  the  insollency  of  inferiours 
may  be  broken  vpon  them,  before  it  come  on  too  fast 
vpon  the  maiestie  of  Kings.  Certain ely  Kings  that 
haue  able  men  of  their  Nobility,  shal  find  ease  in  im- 
ploying  them  ;  and  a  better  slide  in  their  businesse : 
For  people  naturally  bend  to  them,  as  borne  in  some 
sort  to  command. 


8.   Of  great  Place. 

Men  in  great  place,  are  thrice  seruats ;  seruants 
of  the  Soueraigne,  or  state  ;  seruants  of  fame,  and 
seruants  of  businesse.  So  as  they  haue  no  freedome, 
neither  in  their  persons,  nor  in  their  actions,  nor  in 
their  times.  It  is  a  strange  desire  to  seeke  power,  and 
to  lose  liberty :  or  to  seeke  power  ouer  others,  and  to 


EARLY  EDITIONS   OF  THE  ESSAYS.  325 

lose  power  ouer  a  mans  selfe.  The  rising  vnto  place  is 
laborious,  and  by  paines  men  come  to  greater  paines  : 
and  it  is  sometimes  base,  and  by  indignities  men  come 
to  dignities  :  the  standing  is  slippery  ;  and  the  regresse 
is  either  a  downefall,  or  at  least  an  Ecclipse ;  which  is 
a  melancholy  thing.  Nay,  retire,  men  cannot  when 
they  would,  neither  will  they  when  it  were  reason ;  but 
are  impatient  of  priuatenesse,  euen  in  age  and  sicknesse, 
which  require  the  shadow.  Certainely,  great  persons 
had  need  to  borrow  other  mens  opinions,  to  think  them- 
selues  happy :  for  if  they  iudge  by  their  owne  feeling, 
they  cannot  find  it ;  but  they  if  thinke  with  themselues, 
what  other  men  thinke  of  them,  and  that  other  men 
would  fain  be  as  they  are,  then  they  are  happy  as  it 
were  by  report,  when  perhappes  they  finde  the  con- 
trarie  within;  for  they  are  the  first  that  finde  their 
owne  griefes,  though  they  bee  the  last  that  finde  their 
own  faults.  Certainely  men  in  great  fortunes  are 
strangers  to  themselues,  and  while  they  are  in  the  pus- 
sle  of  busines  they  haue  no  time  to  tend  their  health, 
either  of  body  or  mind.  Illi  mors  grams  ineuhat,  qui 
notus  nimis  omnibus,  ignotus  moritur  sibi.  In  place 
there  is  licence  to  do  good  and  euil :  wherof  the  lat> 
ter  is  a  curse  :  for  in  euill  the  best  condition  is,  not 
to  wil ;  the  second  not  to  can.  But  power  to  doe 
good,  is  the  true  &  lawfull  end  of  aspiring.  For  good 
thoughts,  (though  God  accept  them)  yet  towards  men 
are  little  better  then  good  dreams  :  except  they  be  put 
in  Act ;  and  that  cannot  be  without  power  and  place ; 
as  the  vantage  &  commanding  ground.  Merit  is  the 
ende  of  mans  motion  ;  and  conscience  of  merit  is  the 
accomplishment  of  mans  rest.  For  if  a  man  can  in  any 
measure  be  pertaker  of  Gods  Theater,  he  shall  like  wise 


326  APPENDIX  II. 

be  pertaker  of  G-ods  rest.  Et  couersus  Deus  vt  aspieeret 
opera  quce  fecerut  manus  suce  vidit  quod  omnia  essent 
bona  nimis,  and  then  the  Sabbath.  In  the  discharge  of 
thy  place,  set  before  thee  the  best  examples  ;  for  imi- 
tation is  a  globe  of  precepts.  And  after  a  time,  set 
before  thee  thine  owne  example,  and  examine  thy  self 
strictly,  whether  thou  diddest  not  best  at  first.  Re- 
forme  without  brauery  or  scandall  of  former  times  and 
persons,  but  yet  set  it  downe  to  thy  selfe,  as  well  to 
create  good  presidents,  as  to  follow  them.  Reduce 
things  to  the  first  institution,  and  obserue  wherein  and 
how  they  haue  degenerate ;  but  yet  aske  counsell  of 
both  times  ;  of  the  ancient  time  what  is  best ;  and 
of  the  latter  time  what  is  fittest.  Seeke  to  make  thy 
course  ^  reguler,  that  men  may  know  before  hand  what 
they  may  expect ;  but  be  not  too  positiue,  and  expresse 
thy  selfe  well  when  thou  digressest  from  thy  rule. 
Preserue  the  rights  of  thy  place,  but  stir  not  questions 
of  Jurisdiction  :  and  rather  assume  thy  right  in  silence 
and  defacto^  then  voice  it  with  claimes,  and  challenges. 
Preserue  Hkewise  the  rights  of  inferiour  places ;  and 
thinke  it  more  honour,  to  direct  in  chiefe,  then  to  be 
busie  in  al.  Imbrace  and  inuite  helpes,  and  intelligence 
touching  the  execution  of  thy  place ;  and  doe  not  driue 
away  such  as  bring  thee  information,  as  medlers,  but 
accept  of  them  in  good  part.  The  vices  of  authority 
are  chiefly  foure.  Delates^  Corruptions^  Roughnesse^ 
and  Facility.  For  Delaies,  giue  easie  accesse  ;  keepe 
times  appointed ;  go  through  with  that  which  is  in 
hand,  &  interlace  not  busines,  but  of  necessity.  For 
Corruptio,  do  not  only  bind  thine  owne  hands,  or  thy 
seruats  hands  that  may  take  ;  but  bind  the  hands  of 

1  The  MS.  has  courses. 


EARLY  EDITIONS   OF  THE  ESSAYS.  327 

them  that  should  offer.  For  integrity  vsed  doth  the 
one,  but  integrity  professed  &  with  a  manifest  de- 
testation of  bribery,  doth  the  other.  And  auoid  not 
only  the  fault,  but  the  suspition.  Whosoeuer  is  found 
variable  and  changeth  manifestly,  without  manifest 
cause,  giueth  suspicion  of  corruption.  A  seruant  or  a 
fauourite  if  he  be  inward,  and  no  other  apparent  cause 
of  esteeme  :  is  commonly  thought  but  a  by-way.  For 
roughnes  it  is  a  needlesse  cause  of  discontent.  Seuerity 
breedeth  feare,  but  roughnesse  breedeth  hate.  Euen 
reproofes  from  authoritie,  ought  to  bee  graue  and  not 
taunting.  As  for  facility,  it  is  worse  then  bribery  ;  for 
bribes  come  but  now  and  then,  but  if  importunitie,  or 
idle  respects  leade  a  man,  he  shall  neuer  be  without. 
As  Salomon  saith  ;  To  respect  persoiis  is  not  good  ;  for 
such  a  man  will  transgresse  for  a  peece  of  bread.  It  is 
most  true  that  was  anciently  spoken  ;  A  place  sheweth 
the  man :  and  it  sheweth  some  to  the  better,  and  some 
to  the  worse.  Omnium  consensu  eapax  imperij  nisi  imr 
perasset,  saith  Tacitus  of  Galba;  but  of  Vespasian  he 
saith.  Solus  imperantium  Vespasianus  mutatus  hi  me- 
lius :  Though  the  one  was  meant  of  sufficiency,  the 
other  of  manners  and  affection.  It  is  an  assured  signe 
of  a  worthy  and  generous  spirit  whom  honor  amends. 
For  honour  is  or  should  be  the  place  of  vertue  ;  and  as 
in  nature  things  moue  violently  to  their  place  ;  and 
calmely  in  their  place  ;  so  virtue  in  ambition  is  violent, 
in  authority,  setled  and  calme.^ 

1  The  two  last  words  are  not  in  the  MS. 


328  APPENDIX  II. 

9.    Of  Empire. 

It  is  a  miserable  state  of  minde,  to  haue  few  things 
to  desire,  and  many  things  to  feare :  and  yet,  that  com- 
monly is  the  case  of  Kings  ;  who  being  at  the  highest, 
want  matter  of  desire  ;  which  makes  their  mindes  the 
more  languishing,  and  haue  many  representations  of 
perilles  and  shadowes,  which  makes  their  minds  the 
lesse  cleere.  And  this  is  one  reason  also  of  that  effect, 
which  the  Scripture  speaketh  of;  That  the  Kings  heart 
is  inscrutable.  For  multitudes  of  iealousies,  and  lacke 
of  some  predominant  desire,  that  should  marshall  and 
put  in  order  all  the  rest,  maketh  any  mans  heart  hard 
to  finde,  or  sound.  Hence  commeth  it  likewise  that 
Princes  many  times  make  theraselues  desires,  and  s^ 
their  hearts  vpon  toies  ;  sometimes  vpon  a  building ; 
sometimes  vpon  an  order;  sometimes  vpon  the  ad- 
uancing  of  a  person ;  sometimes  vpon  obtaining  excel- 
lency in  some  Arte,  or  feate  of  the  hand :  &  such  like 
things,  which  seeme  incredible  to  those  that  know  not 
the  principle ;  That  the  minde  of  man  is  more  cheered 
and  refreshed  by  profiting  in  small  things^  then  by  stand- 
ing at  a  stay  in  great.  Therefore  great  and  fortunate 
Conquerours  in  their  first  yeeres,  turne  melancholy  and 
superstitious  in  their  latter,  as  did  Alexander  the  great, 
&  in  our  memory  Charles  the  fifth,  and  many  others. 
For  he  that  is  vsed  to  goe  forward,  and  findeth  a 
stoppe,  falleth  out  of  his  owne  fauour.  A  true  temper 
of  gouernment  is  a  rare  thing :  For  both  temper  and 
distemper  consist  of  contraries.  But  it  is  one  thing  to 
mingle  contraries,  an  other  to  interchange  them.  The 
answer  of  Apolonius  to  Vespasian  is  full  of  excellent 
instruction.      Vespasian  asked  him   What  was  Neroes 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.  329 

ouerthrow :  hee  answered ;  JVero  could  touch  and  tune 
the  Harpe  well ;  But  in  gouernment  sometimes  he  vsed 
to  ivinde  the  pinnes  too  hie,  and  sometimes  to  let  them 
downe  too  loive.  And  certain  it  is,  that  nothing  de- 
stroieth  authority,  so  much  as  the  vnequal  and  vn- 
timely  interchange  of  pressing  power  and  relaxing 
power.  The  wisdome  of  all  these  latter  times,  in 
Princes  affaires,  is  rather  fine  deliueries,  and  shiftings 
of  dangers  and  mischiefes  when  they  are  neere,  then 
solide  and  grounded  courses  to  keep  them  aloofe.  But 
let  men  beware  how  they  neglect  and  suffer  matter  of 
trouble  to  bee  prepared  :  for  no  man  can  forbid  the 
sparke,  nor  tell  whence  it  may  come.  The  difficult- 
nesse  in  Princes  businesse  are  many  times  great,  but 
the  greatest  difficulty  is  oflen  in  their  owne  minde. 
For  it  is  common  with  Princes  (saith  Tacitus^  to  will 
contradictories.  Sunt  plerunque  Regum  voluntates  vehe- 
meiites  ^  inter  se  contrarice.  For  it  is  the  Soloecisme 
of  power,  to  thinke  to  command  the  ende,  and  yet  not 
to  endure  the  meane.  Princes  are  like  to  the  heauenly 
bodies,  which  cause  good  or  euill  times  ;  and  which 
haue  much  veneration,  but  no  rest.^  All  precepts  con- 
cerning Kings  are  in  effect,  comprehended  in  those  two 
remembrances.  Memento  quod  es  homo,  and  Memento 
quod  es  Deus,  or  Vice  dei :  The  one  to  bridle  their 
power,  and  the  other  their  will. 

1  The  rest  is  inserted  in  the  margin  of  the  MS.  in  Bacon's  own  hand: 
only  that  the  words  ''or  vice  DeV  are  omitted. 


330  APPENDIX  II. 


10.    Of  Counsell. 


The  greatest  trust  betweene  man,^  is  the  trust  of 
giuing  cousell.  For  in  other  confidences  men  commit 
the  partes  of  their  Hfe,  their  lands,  their  goods,  their 
child,  their  credit;  some  particuler  affaire.  But  to 
such  as  they  make  their  counsellors,  they  commit  the 
whole ;  by  how  much  the  more  they  are  obliged  to  all 
faith,  and  integrity.  The  wisest  Princes  need  not 
thinke  it  any  diminution  to  their  greatnesse,  or  deroga- 
tion to  their  sufficiency,  to  rely  vpon  counsell.  God 
himselfe  is  not  without :  but  hath  made  it  one  of  the 
great  names  of  his  blessed  Son,  The  Counsellor.  Sal- 
omon hath  pronounced,  that  In  Counsel  is  stahilitie. 
Things  will  haue  their  first  or  second  agitation ;  if 
they  bee  not  tossed  vpon  the  arguments  of  counsel!, 
they  will  be  tossed  vpon  the  wanes  of  Fortune;  and 
be  fiiU  of  inconstancy,  doing,  and  vndoing,  like  the 
reeling  of  a  drunken  man.  Salomons  sonne  found  the 
force  of  counsell,  as  his  father  saw  the  necessitie  of  it. 
For  the  beloued  kingdome  of  God  was  first  rent  and 
broken  by  ill  counsell ;  vpon  which  counsel  there  are 
set  for  our  instruction,  the  two  markes,  whereby  bad 
counsell  is  for  euer  best  discerned,  that  it  was  young 
counsell  for  the  persons,  &  violent  counsell  for  the 
matter.  The  ancient  times  doe  set  forth  in  figure 
both  the  incorporation,  and  inseperable  coniunction  of 
counsell  with  Kinges ;  and  the  wise  and  politike  vse 
of  Counsell  by  Kings :  the  one,  in  that  they  say  Ju- 
piter did  marrie  Metis  (which  signifieth  Counsell.) 
So  as  Soueraignty  or  authority  is  married  to  counsel. 
The  other  in  that  which  followeth ;  which  was  thus, 

1  The  MS.  has  "  between  man  and  man." 


EARLY  EDITIONS   OF  THE  ESSAYS.  331 

They  say  after  fwpiter  was  maiTied  to  Metis^  shee  con- 
ceiu'd  by  him,  and  was  with  childe,  but  Jupiter  suffered 
her  not  to  stay  till  shee  brought  fourth,  but  eate  her 
vp  ;  whereby  hee  became  with  child  and  was  dehuered 
of  Pallas^  armed  out  of  his  head.  Which  monstrous 
fable  containeth  a  secret  of  Umpire:  How  Kings  are 
to  make  vse  of  their  Counsell  of  state.  That  first  they 
ought  to  referre  matters  to  them,  which  is  the  first 
begetting,  or  impregnation ;  but  when  they  are  elab- 
orate, moulded,  and  shaped  in  the  wombe  of  their 
counsell  and  growe  ripe,  and  ready  to  be  brought 
fourth  ;  that  then  they  suffer  not  their  counsel  to  go 
through,  with  the  resolution  and  direction,  as  if  it  de- 
pended vpon  the ;  but  take  the  matter  back  into  their 
own  hand,  &  make  it  appeare  to  the  world,  that  the 
decrees  and  final  directions  (which  because  they  come 
forth  with  prudece,  and  power,  are  resembled  to  Pallas 
armed)  proceeded  from  themselues  :  and  not  onely  from 
their  authority,  but  (the  more  to  adde  reputation  to 
themselues)  from  their  head  and  deuice.  The  incon- 
ueniences  that  haue  beene  noted  in  calling  and  vsing 
counsell,  are  three.  First,  the  reuealing  of  affaires, 
whereby  they  become  lesse  secret.  Secondly,  the 
weakning  of  the  authority  of  Princes,  as  if  they  were 
lesse  of  themselues.  Thirdly,  the  danger  of  being  vn- 
faithfully  counselled,  and  more  for  the  good  of  them 
that  counsel,  then  of  him  that  is  counselled.  For 
which  inconueniences,  the  doctrine  of  Itali/^  and  prac- 
tise of  France,  hath  introduced  Cabanet  counsels,  a 
remedy  worse   then   the    disease.^      But   for   secrecy, 

1  The  MS.  proceeds  thus :  "  which  hath  tourned  Metis  the  -wife  to  Metis 
the  mistresse,  that  is  Councells  of  State  to  which  Princes  are  [solemly] 


332  APPENDIX  II. 

Princes  are  not  bound  to  communicate  all  matters  with 
all  Councellors,  but  may  extract  and  select.  Neither 
is  it  necessarie,  that  hee  that  consulteth  what  hee 
should  doe  ;  should  declare  what  hee  will  doe.  But 
let  Princes  beware  that  the  vnsecreting  of  their  aifaires 
come  not  from  themselues.  And  as  for  Cabanet  Coun- 
sell,  it  may  be  their  Mot^  Plenus  rimarum  sum.  One 
futile  person,  that  maketh  it  his  glory  to  tell,  will  do 
more  hurt,  then  manie  that  know  it  their  dutie  to  con- 
ceale.  For  weakning  of  authority,  the  fable  sheweth 
the  remedy ;  neither  was  there  euer  Prince  bereaved 
of  his  dependances  by  his  Counsell,  except  where  there 
hath  been  either  an  ouergreatnesse  in  one,  or  an  ouer- 
strict  combination  in  diuerse  ;  for  the  last  incouenience 
that  men  will  counsell  with  an  eie  to  themselues.  Cer- 
tainlie,  J^^on  inueniet  fidem  super  terram  is  meant  of  the 
nature  of  times,  and  not  of  all  particuler  persons. 
There  bee  that  are  in  nature  faithfull  and  sinceare, 
and  plaine,  and  direct,  not  craftie  and  inuolued.  Let 
Princes  aboue  all,  draw  to  themselues  such  natures. 
Besides,  counsels  are  not  commonly  so  vnited,  but  that 
one  keepeth  Sentinell  ouer  an  other.  But  the  best 
remedie  is,  if  Princes  know  their  counsellors,  as  well 
as  their  Counsellors  know  them,  Prindpis  est  virtus 
maxima  nosse  suos.  And  of  the  other  side  Councellors 
should  not  be  too  speculatiue  into  their  Soueraignes 
person.  The  true  composition  of  a  Councellor,  is 
rather  to  be  skilfull  in  their  Masters  businesse,  then 
in  his  nature :   For  then  he  is  like  to  aduise  him,  and 

marryed,  to  Councells  of  gracious  persons  recommended  cheifly  by  [flat- 
tery and]  affection." 

The  word  "solemly  "  has  a  line  drawn  through  it,  and  the  words  "flat- 
tery and"  are  inserted  between  the  lines  in  Bacon's  hand. 


EARLY  EDITIONS   OF  THE  ESSAYS.  333 

not  to  feed  his  humor.  It  is  of  singuler  vse  to  Princes^ 
if  they  take  the  opinions  of  their  Councell,  both  sepe- 
ratly  and  together.  For  priuate  opinion  is  more  free, 
but  opinion  before  others  is  more  reuerent.  In  priuate, 
men  are  more  bold  in  their  own  humors ;  and  in 
consort,  men  are  more  obnoxious  to  others  humours. 
Therefore  it  is  good  to  take  both,  and  of  the  inferiour 
sort  rather  in  priuate  to  preserue  freedome  ;  of  the 
greater  rather  in  consort,  to  preserue  respect.^  It  is  in 
vain  for  Princes  to  take  counsell  concerning  matters : 
if  they  take  no  counsell  likewise  concerning  persons. 
For  all  matters  are  as  dead  images,  and  the  life  of  the 
execution  of  affaires  resteth  in  the  good  choise  of  per- 
sons. Neither  is  it  enough  to  consult  concerning  per- 
sons, secundum  genera^  as  in  an  Idea^  or  mathematical! 
description,  what  kind  of  person  should  be ;  but  in 
indiuiduo  :  For  the  greatest  errors,  and  the  greatest 
iudgement  are  shewed  in  the  choice  of  Indiuiduals?  It 
was  truly  said,  Optwii  Consiliarij  mortui.  Bookes  will 
speake  plaine,  when  Councellors  blanch.  Therefore  it 
is  good  to  be  conuersant  in  them,  specially  the  books 
of  such  as  themselues  haue  beene  Actors  vpon  the 
Stage. 

11.    Of  Dispatch. 

Affected  dispatch  is  one  of  the  most  dangerous 
things  to  businesse  that  can  bee.  It  is  like  that  which 
the  PJiysitians  caU  pre-digestion,  or  hasty  digestion, 
which  is  sure  to  fill  the  bodie  full  of  crudities  and  se- 

1  The  two  clauses  "  to  preserve  freedom,"  and  to  "preserve  respect,"  are 
not  in  the  MS. 

2  The  Essay  ends  here  in  the  MS. 


334  APPENDIX  II. 

cret  seedes  of  diseases.  Therefore  measure  not  dispatch 
by  the  times  of  sitting,  but  by  the  aduancement  of  the 
businesse.  It  is  the  care  of  some  onely  to  come  of 
speedily  for  the  time,  or  to  contriue  some  false  periods 
of  businesse,  because  they  may  seeme  men  of  dispatch. 
But  it  is  one  thinge  to  make  short  by  contracting ; 
another  by  cutting  off:  and  businesse  so  handled  by 
peeces,  is  commonly  protracted  in  the  whole.  I  knew 
a  wise  man  had  it  for  a  bie-word,  when  he  saw  men 
hasten  to  ^  conclusion  ;  Stay  a  little  that  wee  may  make 
an  end  the  sooner.  On  the  other  side,  true  dispatch  is 
a  rich  thing :  For  time  is  the  measure  of  businesse,  as 
money  is  of  wares  :  and  businesse  is  bought  at  a  deare 
hand  where  there  is  small  dispatch.  Giue  good  hear- 
ing to  those  that  giue  the  first  information  in  businesse ; 
and  rather  direct  them  in  the  beginning,  then  interrupt 
them  in  the  continuance  of  their  speeches :  For  he  tiiat 
is  put  out  of  his  owne  order,  will  goe  forward,  and 
backwards,  and  be  more  tedious  by  parcels,  then  he 
could  haue  bin  at  once.  But  sometimes  it  is  scene, 
that  the  moderator  is  more  troublesome,  then  the  Actor. 
Iterations  are  commonly  losse  of  time  ;  but  there  is 
no  such  gaine  of  time,  as  to  iterate  often  the  state  of 
the  question.  For  it  chaseth  away  many  a  friuolous 
speech,  as  it  is  comming  forth.  Long  and  curious 
speeches  are  as  fit  for  dispatch,  as  a  Robe  or  Mantle 
with  a  long  traine,  is  for  race.  Prefaces,  and  passages, 
and  excusations,  and  other  speeches  of  reference  to  the 
person,  are  great  wastes  of  time,  and  though  they 
seeme  to  proceede  of  modesty,  they  are  brauery.  Yet 
beware  of  being  too  materiall,  when  there  is  any  im- 
pediment, or  obstruction  in  mens  will.^     For  preoccu- 

1  wills  in  MS. 


EARLY  EDITIONS   OF  THE  ESSAYS.  335 

pation  euer  requireth  preface  :  like  a  fomentation  to 
make  the  vnguent  enter.  Above  all  things,  order  and 
distribution  is  the  life  of  dispatch :  so  as  the  distribu- 
tion bee  not  too  subtill :  For  he  that  doth  not  diuide, 
will  neuer  enter  well  into  businesse ;  and  he  that  diuid- 
eth  too  much  will  neuer  come  out  of  it  clearely.  To 
chuse  time,  is  to  saue  time,  and  an  vnseasonable  motion 
is  but  beating  the  aire.  There  bee  three  parts  of  busi- 
nesse ;  the  preparation,  the  debate,  or  examination,  and 
the  perfection.  Whereof  if  you  looke  for  dispatch,  let 
the  midle  onely  be  the  worke  of  many,  and  the  first 
and  last  the  worke  of  few.  The  proceeding  vpon 
somewhat  conceiued  in  writing,  doth  for  the  most  part 
facilitate  dispatch.  For  though  it  should  bee  wholly 
reiected,  yet  that  Negatiue  is  more  pregnant  of  a  direc- 
tion, then  an  indefinite ;  as  ashes  are  more  generatiue 
than  dust. 


12.  Of  Love. 


Love  is  the  argument  alwaies  of  Comedies^  and 
many  times  of  Tragedies.  Which  sheweth  well,  that 
it  is  a  passion  generally  light,  and  sometimes  extreme. 
Extreame  it  may  well  bee,  since  the  speaking  in  a 
perpetuall  Hyperbole^  is  comely  in  nothing,  but  Loue. 
Neither  is  it  meerely  in  the  phrase.  For  whereas  it 
hath  beene  well  said,  that  the  Arch- flatterer  with  whom 
al  the  petty-flatters  haue  intelligence,  is  a  Mans  selfe, 
certainely  the  louer  is  more.  For  there  was  neuer 
proud  Man  thought  so  absurdly  well  of  himselfe,  as 
the  louer  doth  of  the  person  loued :  and  therefore  it 
was  well  said,  that  it  is  impossible  to  loue,  and  to  bee 
wise.     Neither  doth  this  weakenes  appeare  to  others 


336  APPENDIX  II. 

only,  and  not  to  the  party  loued,  but  to  the  loued  most 
of  all,  except  the  loue  bee  reciproque.  For  it  is  a  true 
rule,  that  loue  is  euer  rewarded  either  with  the  recip- 
roque, or  with  an  inward  and  secret  contempt.  By 
how  much  the  more,  men  ought  to  beware  of  this  pas- 
sion, which  loseth  not  onely  other  things,  but  it  selfe. 
As  for  the  other  losses,  the  Poets  relation  doth  wel 
figure  them :  That  hee  that  preferred  Helena^  quitted 
the  gifts  of  luno  and  Pallas.  For  whosoeuer  esteemeth 
too  much  of  amorous  affection,  quitteth  both  riches  and 
wisdome.  This  passion  hath  his  flouds  in  the  verie 
times  of  weakenesse ;  which  are  great  prosperity,  and 
great  aduersitie.  (though  this  latter  hath  beene  lesse 
obserued)  Both  which  times  kindle  loue  and  make  it 
more  feruent,  and  therefore  shew  it  to  be  the  childe  of 
folly.  They  doe  best  that  make  this  affection  keepe 
quarter,  and  seuer  it  wholly  from  their  serious  affaires 
and  actions  of  their  life.  For  if  it  checke  once  with 
businesse,  it  troubleth  Mens  fortunes,  and  maketh  Men, 
that  they  can  no  waies  be  true  to  their  own  endes. 


13.    Of  Friendship. 

There  is  no  greater  desert  or  wildernes  then  to 
bee  without  true  friends.  For  without  friendship,  so- 
ciety is  but  meeting.  And  as  it  is  certaine,  that  in 
bodies  inanimate,  vnion  strengthneth  any  naturall  mo- 
tion, and  weakeneth  any  violent  motion  ;  So  amongst 
men,  friendship  multiplieth  ioies,  and  diuideth  griefes. 
Therefore  whosoeuer  wanteth  fortitude,  let  him  wor- 
shippe  Friendship.  For  the  yoke  of  Friendship  mak- 
eth the  yoke  o^  fortune  more  light.     There  bee  some 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.  337 

whose  Hues  are,  as  if  they  perpetually  plaid  vpon  a 
stage,  disguised  to  all  others,  open  onely  to  them- 
selues.  But  perpetuall  dissimulation  is  painfull ;  and 
hee  that  is  all  Fortune^  and  no  Nature  is  an  exquisite 
Hierling.  Liue  not  in  continual}  smother,  but  take 
some  friends  with  whom  to  communicate.  It  will 
unfold  thy  vnderstanding ;  it  will  euaporate  thy  affec- 
tions ;  it  will  prepare  thy  businesse.  A  man  may 
keepe  a  corner  of  his  niinde  from  his  friend,  and  it  be 
but  to  witnesse  to  himselfe,  that  it  is  not  vpon  facility, 
but  vpon  true  vse  of  friendship  that  hee  imparteth  him- 
selfe. Want  of  true  friends,  as  it  is  the  reward  of 
perfidious  natures  ;  so  is  it  an  imposition  vpon  great 
fortunes.  The  one  deserue  it,  the  other  cannot  scape 
it.  And  therefore  it  is  good  to  retaine  sincerity,  and 
to  put  it  into  the  reckoning  of  Ambition,  that  the 
higher  one  goeth,  the  fewer  true  friends  he  shall  haue. 
Perfection  of  friendship,  is  but  a  speculation.  It  is 
friendship,  when  a  man  can  say  to  himselfe,  I  loue  this 
man  without  respect  of  vtility.  I  am  open  hearted  to 
him,  I  single  him  fro  the  generality  of  those  with 
whom  I  liue ;  I  make  him  a  portion  of  my  owne 
wishes. 


14.     Of  Atheisme. 

I  HAD  rather  beleeue  all  the  fables  in  the  Legend, 
and  the  Alcaron,  then  that  this  vniuersall  frame  is  with- 
out a  minde.  And  therefore  God  neuer  wrought  myr- 
acle  to  conuince  Atheists,  because  his  ordinary  works 
conuince  them.  Certainely  a  little  JPMlosopMe  inclin- 
eth  mans  minde  ^  to  Atheisme,  but  depth  in  Philosophie 

1  man's  minde  omitted  in  MS. 
VOL.  XII.  22 


338  APPENDIX  II. 

brincreth  men  about  to  Relimon.  For  when  the  minde  of 
man  looketh  vpon  second  causes  scattered,  sometimes  it 
resteth  in  them;  but  when  it  beholdeth  them  confed- 
erat,  and  knit  together,  it  flies  to  prouidence  and  Deitie. 
Most  of  all,  that  schoole  which  is  most  accused  of 
Atheisme  doth  demonstrate  Religion.  That  is,  the 
Schoole  of  Leusippus^  and  Democritus,  and  Epicurus, 
For  it  is  a  thousand  times  more  credible,  that  foure 
mutable  Elements,  and  one  immutable  fifth  essence, 
duely  and  eternally  placed,  neede  no  God :  then 
that  an  Army  of  infinite  small  portions  or  seeds  vn- 
placed,  should  haue  produced  this  order,  and  beau- 
ty, without  a  diuine  Marshall.  The  scripture  saith, 
The  foole  hath  said  in  his  hearty  there  is  no  God, 
It  is  not  said.  The  foole  hath  thought  in  his  heart. 
So  as  he  rather  saith  it  by  rote  to  himselfe,  as  that 
he  would  haue ;  then  that  hee  can  throughly  be- 
leeue  it,  or  bee  perswaded  of  it.  For  none  denie 
there  is  a  God,  but  those  for  whom  it  maketh,  that 
there  were  no  God.  Epicurus  is  charged  that  he  did 
but  dissemble  for  his  credits  sake,  when  he  affirmed 
there  were  blessed  natures,  but  such  as  enioyed  them- 
selues,  without  hauing  respect  to  the  gouernment  of 
the  world.  Wherein  they  say,  he  did  temporize, 
though  in  secret,  hee  thought,  there  was  no  God. 
But  certainly  hee  is  traduced ;  for  his  words  are 
noble  and  diuine.  Non  Deos  vulgi  negare  profanum^ 
sed  vulgi  opiniones  Dijs  applieare  profanum.  Plato 
could  haue  said  no  more.  And  although  he  had 
the  confidence  to  denie  the  administration ;  he  had 
not  the  power  to  deny  the  nature.  The  Indians 
of  the  West,  haue  names  for  their  particuler  gods, 
though  they  haue  no  name  for  God :    as  if  the  hea- 


EARLY  EDITIONS   OF  THE  ESSAYS.  339 

thens  should  haue  had  the  names,  Jupiter,  Apollo,  Mars, 
^c.  but  not  the  word  Deus :  which  shews  yet  they 
haue  the  motion  though  not  the  full  extent.  So 
that  against  Atheists,  the  most  barbarous  Sauages, 
take  part  with  the  subtillest  philosophers.  They  that 
deny  a  God  destroy  mans  nobility.  For  certainely 
man  is  of  kinne  to  the  beasts  by  his  body;  and  if 
he  bee  not  of  kin  to  God  by  his  spirit,  he  is  a 
base  and  imioble  creature.  It  destroies  likewise  mao;- 
nanimity,  and  the  raising  of  humane  nature.  For, 
take  an  example  of  a  dog,  and  marke  what  a  gen- 
erosity and  courage  he  will  put  on,  when  hee  lindes 
himselfe  maintained  by  a  man,  which  to  him  is  in- 
stead of  a  god,  or  Melior  natura:  Which  courage 
is  manifestly  such,  as  that  creature,  without  that  con- 
fidence of  a  better  nature  than  his  owne,  could  neu- 
er  attaine.  So  man  when  he  resteth  and  assure th 
himselfe  vpon  Diuine  protection  and  fauour ;  gath- 
ereth  a  force,  and  faith,  which  humane  nature  in  it 
selfe  could  not  obtaine.  Therefore  as  Atheisme  is 
in  all  respects  hatefull :  So  in  this,  that  it  depriueth 
humane  nature  of  the  meanes  to  exalt  it  selfe  aboue 
humane  frailty.  As  it  is  in  particuler  persons;  so 
it  is  in  Nations.  Neuer  was  there  such  a  state  for 
magnanimity  as  Home.  Of  this  state,  heare  what 
Cicero  saith  ;  Quam  volumus  licet  P.  Cons,  nos  ame- 
mus,  tamen  nee  numero  Hispanos,  nee  rohore  G alios, 
nee  calliditate  Poenos,  nee  artibus  Grceeos,  nee  deni- 
que  hoc  ipso  huius  gentis  ^  terrce  domestico,  natiuoque 
sensu  Italos  ipsos  ^  Latinos  ;  sed  pietate,  ac  religione, 
atque  hac  vnd  sapientid  quod  Deorum  immortalium 
numine  omnia  regi  gubernarique  perspeximus,  omnes 
gentes,   Nationesque   superauimus. 


840 


APPENI 


15.     Of  Superstition. 

It  were  better  to  haue  no  opinion  of  God  at  all; 
then  such  an  opinion  as  is  vnworthy  of  him;  For 
the  one  is  vnbeliefe,  the  other  is  Contumely ;  and  cer- 
tainely  superstition  is  the  reproch  of  Deitie.^  Athen 
isme  leaues  a  Man  to  sense,  to  Philosophy,  to  nat- 
urall  piety,  to  lawes,  to  reputation,  all  which  may 
bee  guides  vnto  vertue,  though  Religion  were  not; 
but  superstition  dismounts  all  these,  and  erecteth  an 
absolute  Tyranny  in  the  minde  of  men.  Therefore 
Atheisme  did  neuer  perturbe  states  ;  for  it  makes 
men  wary  of  themselues,  as  looking  no  further :  and 
we  see  the  times  inclined  to  Atheisme,  as  the  time 
of  Augustus  Ocesar,  and  our  owne  times  in  some 
Countries,  were,  and  are,  ciuill  times.  But  Super- 
stition, hath  beene  the  confusion  and  desolation  of 
many  states :  and  bringeth  in  a  new  Primum  Mob- 
ile that  rauisheth  al  the  spheres  of  gouernment.  The 
master  of  Superstition  is  the  people :  and  in  al  su- 
perstition, wise  men  follow  fooles ;  and  arguments  are 
fitted  to  practise,  in  a  reuersed  order.  There  is  no 
such  Atheist,  as  an  Hipocrite,  or  Impostor:  and 
it  is  not  possible,  but  where  the  generality  is  su- 
perstitious, many  of  the  leaders  are  Hipocrits.  The 
causes  of  Atheisme  are,  diuisions  in  Religion ;  scan- 
dall  of  Priests  ;  and  learned  times ;  specially  if  pros- 
perous ;  though  for  diuisions,  any  one  maine  diuis- 
ion  addeth  zeale  to  both  sides,  but  many  diuisions 
introduce  Atheisme.  The  causes  of  Superstition  are, 
the  pleasing  of  Ceremonies;  the  excesse  of  outward 
holinesse ;  the  reuerence  of  traditions ;    the  stratagems 

1  of  the  Deytie,  MS. 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.       341 

of  Prelats  for  their  owne  ambition  and  lucre,  and 
barbarous  times,  specially  with  calamities,  and  dis- 
asters. Superstition  without  his  vaile  is  a  deformed 
thing ;  for  as  it  addeth  deformity  to  an  Ape,  to  be 
so  like  a  man ;  So  the  similitude  of  superstition  to 
Religion^  makes  it  the  more  deforaied.  And  as  whole- ! 
some  meat  corrupteth  to  little  wormes ;  so  good  formes 
and  orders,  corrupt  into  a  number  of  pettie  obseru- 
ances. 


16.    WiSDOME    FOR   A    MANS    SELFE. 

An  Ante  is  a  wise  creature  for  it  selfe:  But  it  is 
a  shrewd  thing  in  an  Orchard  or  garden.  And  cer- 
tainly men  that  are  great  louers  of  themselues,  waste 
the  publike.  Diuide  with  reason  betweene  selfe  loue, 
and  society :  and  bee  so  true  to  thy  selfe,  as  thou  be 
not  false  to  others.  It  is  a  poore  Centre  of  a  mans 
actions,  himselfe.  It  is  right  earth.  For  that  only 
stands  fast  vpon  his  owne  centre  :  whereas  all  things 
that  haue  affinity  with  the  heauens,  moue  vpon  the  cen- 
tre of  an  other,  which  they  benefit.  The  referring  of 
all  to  a  mans  selfe,  is  more  tollerable  in  a  soueraigne 
Prince  ;  because  themselues  are  not  themselues  ;  but 
their  good  and  euill  is  at  the  perill  of  the  publike  for- 
tune. But  it  is  a  desperate  euil  in  a  seruant  to  a 
Prince^  or  a  Citizen  in  a  Rcpuhlike.  For  whatsoeuer 
affaires  passe  such  a  mans  hand,  hee  crooketh  them 
to  his  owne  ends  :  which  must  needs  bee  often  Eccen^ 
trike  to  the  ends  of  his  master  or  state.  Therefore  let 
Princes  or  States,  chuse  such  seruants,  as  haue  not 
this  marke ;  except  they  meane  their  seruice  should 
bee  made  but  the  accessary.     And  that  which  maketh 


342 


APPENDIX  II. 


the  effect  more  pemitious,  is,  that  al  proportion  is  lost. 
It  were  disproportion  enough  for  the  seruants  good  to 
be  preferred  before  the  masters  :  But  yet  it  is  a  greater 
extreme,  when  a  little  good  of  the  servants,  shall  carrie 
things  against  a  great  good  of  the  masters.  And  yet 
that  is  the  case ;  for  the  good  such  seruants  receiue ; 
is  after  the  modell  of  their  owne  fortune :  but  the  hurt 
they  sell  for  that  good,  is  after  the  modell  of  their  Mas- 
ters Fortune,  And  certainely  it  is  the  nature  of  ex- 
treme selfe-louers,  as  they  will  set  an  house  on  fire, 
and  it  were  but  to  rost  their  egges  ;  ^  and  yet  these 
men  many  times  hold  credit  with  their  masters  ;  be- 
cause their  study  is  but  to  please  them,  and  profit 
themselves ;  and  for  either  respect  they  will  abandon 
the  good  of  their  affaires. 


17.  Or  Regiment  of  health. 

There  is  a  wisdome  in  this,  beyond  the  rules  of 
Phisiche.  A  mans  owne  obseruation  what  he  findes 
good  of,  and  what  hee  findes  hurt  of,  is  the  best  Phys- 
icke  to  preserue  health.  But  it  is  a  safer  conclusion 
to  say  ;  this  agreeth  not  well  with  mee,  therefore  I 
will  not  continue  it ;  then  this,  I  finde  no  offence  of 
this,  therefore  I  may  vse  it :  for  strength  of  nature 
in  youth,  passeth  ouer  many  excesses,  which  are  owing 
a  man  till  his  age.  Discerne  of  the  comming  on  of 
yeeres :  and  thinke  not  to  doe  the  same  things  still. 
Certainly  most  lusty  old  men  catch  their  death  by 
that  aduenture;  For  age  will  not  be  defied.^  Be- 
ware of  any  sudden  change  in  any  great  point  of  diet, 

1  egge  in  MS.  2  Xhis  sentence  is  not  in  the  MS. 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.  343 

and  if  necessitie  enforce  it,  fit  the  rest  to  it.  For  it 
is  a  secret  both  in  nature  and  state,  that  it  is  safer  to 
change  many  things  then  one.^  To  bee  free  minded 
and  cherefullie  disposed  at  houres  of  meat,  and  of 
sleepe,  and  of  exercise,  is  the  best  precept  of  long 
lasting.  If  you  fly  Phisicke  in  health  altogether,  it 
will  be  too  strange  for  your  body,  when  you  shall 
need  it :  if  you  make  it  too  familiar,  it  will  worke  no 
extraordinary  effect,  when  sicknesse  commeth.  De- 
spise no  new  accident  in  your  body,  but  aske  opinion 
of  it.  In  sicknesse  respect  health  principally,  and  in 
health  action.  For  those  that  put  their  bodies  to  en- 
dure in  health,  may  in  most  sicknesses,  which  are  not 
very  sharpe,  be  cured  onely  with  diet  and  tendering.^ 
Celsus  could  neuer  haue  spoken  it  as  a  Physitian  had 
he  not  been  a  wise  man  withall :  when  he  giueth  it 
for  one  of  the  great  precepts  of  health  and  lasting; 
Tliat  a  man  doe  varie  and  interchange  contraries,  but 
with  an  inclination  to  the  more  benign  extreame  ;  vse 
fasting  and  full  eating,  but  rather  full  eating ;  watch- 
ing and  sleepe,  but  rather  sleepe  ;  sitting  and  exercise, 
but  rather  exercise,  and  the  like.  So  shall  nature  bee 
cherished  and  yet  taught  masteries.  Physitians  are  some 
of  them  so  pleasing  &  conformable  to  the  humors  of  the 
Patient,  as  they  presse  not  the  true  cure  of  the  disease ; 
and  some  other  are  so  regular,  in  proceeding  accord- 
ing to  art  for  the  disease,  as  they  respect  not  suffi- 
ciently the  condition  of  the  Patient.  Take  one  of  a 
middle  temper,  or  if  it  may  not  be  found  in  one  man, 
combine  two  of  both  sorts  :  and  forget  not  to  call  as 
well  the  best  acquainted  with  your  bodie,  as  the  best 
reputed  of,  for  his  faculty. 

1  This  sentence  is  not  in  the  MS. 

2  The  next  three  sentences,  down  to  "  masteries,"  are  not  in  the  MS. 


344  APPENDIX  II. 

18.    Of  Expences. 

Riches  are  for  spending,  and  spending  for  honour 
&  good  actions.  Therefore  extraordinary  expence 
must  bee  limited  by  the  worth  of  the  occasion,  for 
voluntary  vndoing  may  bee  aswell  for  a  mans  Coun- 
trey,  as  for  the  kingdome  of  Heauen.  But  ordinarie 
expence,  ought  to  be  limitted  by  a  mans  estate  and 
gouerned  with  such  regard,  as  it  be  within  his  com- 
passe,  and  not  subiect  to  deceit,  and  abuse  of  seruants ; 
and  ordered  to  the  best  shew,  that  the  bils  may  be 
lesse  then  the  estimation  abroad.  It  is  no  basenesse  for 
the  greatest  to  descend  and  looke  into  their  owne  es- 
tates. Some  forbeare  it  not  vpon  negligence  alone, 
but  doubting  to  bring  themselues  into  malancholy  in 
respect  they  shall  find  it  broken.  But  wounds  cannot 
bee  cured  without  searching.  Hee  that  cannot  looke 
into  his  owne  estate  at  alP,  had  neede  both  choose 
well  those  whom  he  imploieth,  and  change  them  often : 
for  new  are  more  timorous,  and  less  subtill.  He  that 
can  looke  into  his  estate  but  seldom,  had  need  turne  all 
to  certainties.^  In  cleering  of  a  mans  estate,  hee  may 
aswell  hurt  himselfe  in  being  too  sudden,  as  in  letting 
it  run  on  to  long.  For  hasty  selling  is  commonly  as 
disaduantageable  as  interest.^  Besides,  he  that  cleeres 
at  once  will  relapse :  For  finding  himself  out  of  straights, 
he  wil  reuert  to  his  custom es.  But  hee  that  cleereth 
by  degrees,  induceth  an  habite  of  frugality,  and  gain- 
eth  aswell  vpon  his  minde  as  vpon  his  estate.  Cer- 
tainly who  hath  a   state   to  repaire  may  not   despise 

1  The  words  at  all  are  not  in  the  MS. 

2  This  sentence  is  not  in  the  MS. 

8  The  next  two  sentences  (down  to  "  certainly  ")  are  not  in  the  MS. 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.       345 

small  things ;  and  commonly  it  is  lesse  dishonourable 
to  abridge  pettie  charges,  then  to  stoope  to  petty  get- 
tings.     A  man  ought  warily  to  begin  charges,  which  jj 
once  begun  must  continue.     But  in  matters  that  re- ^ 
tm-n  not,  he  may  bee  more  magnificent. 


19.    Of  Discourse. 

Some  in  their  discourse  desire  rather  comendation 
of  wit,  in  beeing  able  to  holde  all  arguments,  then  of 
iudgement  in  discerning  what  is  true  ;  as  if  it  were  a 
praise  to  know  what  might  be  said,  &  not  what  should 
be  thought.  Some  haue  certaine  common  places,  & 
theames  wherein  they  are  good,  and  want  variety : 
which  kind  of  pouerty  is  for  the  most  part  tedious, 
and  now  and  then  ridiculous.  The  honorablest  kind 
of  talke,  is  to  giue  the  occasion,  and  againe  to  moder- 
ate and  passe  to  somewhat  else.  It  is  good  to  varie 
and  mixe  speech  of  the  present  occasion  with  argu- 
ment :  tales  with  reasons  ;  asking  of  questions,  with 
telling  of  opinions :  and  iest  with  earnest.  But  some 
things  are  priuiledged  from  iest,  namely  religion,  mat- 
ters of  State,  great  persons,  any  mans  present  busi- 
nesse  of  importance,  and  any  case  that  deserueth 
pitty^;  and  generally  men  ought  to  finde  the  differ- 
ence betweene  saltnesse  and  bitternesse.  Certainly 
he  that  hath  a  Satyricall  vaine,  as  he  maketh  oth- 
ers afraid  of  his  wit,  so  he  had  need  be  afraid  of 
others  memory.  He  that  questioneth  much  shall 
learne  much,  and  content  much  :  specially  if  he  ap- 
plie  his  questions  to  the  skill  of  the  persons  of  whom 
1  What  follows,  (down  to  "  memory,")  is  not  in  the  MS. 


346  APPENDIX  II. 

he  asketh :  For  he  shall  giue  them  occasion  to  please 
themselues  in  speaking,  and  himselfe  shal  continually 
gather  knowledge.  If  you  dissemble  sometimes  your 
knowledge  of  that  you  are  thought  to  know,  you 
shall  be  thought  an  other  time  to  know  that  you 
know  not.  Speech  of  a  mas  selfe  is  not  good  often, 
and  there  is  but  one  case  wherin  a  man  may  commend 
himselfe  with  good  grace,  and  that  is  in  commending 
vertue  in  another,  especially  if  it  bee  such  a  vertue, 
as  whereunto  himselfe  pretendeth.  Speech  of  touch 
toward  others,  should  bee  sparingly  vsed ;  for  dis- 
course ought  to  bee  as  a  field,  without  comming  home 
to  any  man.'^  Discretion  of  speech  is  more  than  elo- 
quence ;  and  to  speake  agreeably  to  him  with  whom 
wee  deale,  is  more  then  to  speake  in  good  words,  or 
in  good  order.  A  good  continued  speech  without  a 
good  speech  of  interlocution,  sheweth  slownesse :  and 
a  good  reply,  or  second  speech,  without  a  good  setled 
speech,  sheweth  shallownesse  and  weakenesse  :  as  wee 
see  in  beasts,  that  those  that  are  weakest  in  the  course, 
are  yet  nimblest  in  the  turne.  To  vse  too  many  cir- 
cumstances ere  one  come  to  the  matter,  is  wearisome ; 
to  vse  none  at  all,  is  blunt. 


20.    Of  Seeming  wise. 

It  hath  beene  an  opinion,  that  the  French  are  wiser 
than  they  seeme,  and  the  Spaniards  seem  wiser  the 
they  are :  But  howsoeuer  it  be  betweene  Nations,  cer- 
tainely  it  is  so  between  Man  and  Man.  For  as  the 
Apostle  saith  of  godlinesse :   Hauing  a  shew  of  godli- 

1  This  sentence  is  not  in  the  MS. 


I 


EARLY  EDITIONS   OF  THE  ESSAYS.  347 

nesse,  but  denying  the  power  thereof ;  So  certainlie  there 
are  in  point  of  wisdome  and  sufficiencie,  that  doe  noth- 
ing or  little  verie  solemnly ;  Magno  conatu  nugas.  It 
is  a  ridiculous  thing,  and  fit  for  a  Satyre  to  persons  of 
iudgement,  to  see  what  shifts  these  formalists  haue,  and 
what  perspectiues  to  make  Superficies  to  seeme  body, 
that  hath  depth  and  bulke.  Some  are  so  close,  and 
reserued,  as  they  will  not  shew  their  wares,  but  by  a 
darke  light;  and  seeme  alwaies  to  keepe  back  some- 
what ;  and  when  they  know  within  themselues,  they 
speake  of  that  they  doe  not  well  know  ;  would  neuer- 
thelesse  seeme  to  others,  to  know  of  that  which  they 
may  not  well  speake :  Some  helpe  themselues  with 
countenance  and  gesture,  and  are  wise  by  signes,  as 
Cicero  saith  of  Piso^  that  when  he  answered  him,  he 
fetched  one  of  his  brows  vp  to  his  forehead,  and  bent 
the  other  downe  to  his  chinne :  Responded  altero  ad 
frontem  svhlato^  altero  ad  mentum  depresso  super oilio, 
crudelitatem  tihi  non  placere.  Some  thinke  to  bear  it 
by  speaking  a  great  word,  and  being  peremptory,  and 
will  goe  on  and  take  by  admittance  that  which  they 
cannot  make  good.  Some,  whatsoeuer  is  beyond  their 
reach,  they  will  seeme  to  despise  or  make  light  of,  as 
impertinent  or  curious ;  and  so  would  haue  their  Ig- 
norance seeme  iudo-ement.  Some  are  neuer  without 
a  difference,  and  commonly  by  amusing  men  with  a 
subtilty,  blanch  the  matter.  Of  whom  Grellius  saith ; 
Hominem  delirum,  qui  verborum  minutijs  rerum  frangit 
pondera.  Of  which  kinde  also,  Plato  in  his  Protagoras 
bringeth  in  Prodicus  in  scorne,  and  maketh  him  make 
a  speech  that  consisteth  of  distinctions  from  the  begin- 
ning to  the  end.  Generally,  such  men  in  all  delibera- 
tions, finde  ease  to  be  of  the  Negatiue  side,  and  affect 


348  APPENDIX  II. 

a  credit  to  obiect  and  foretell  difficulties.  For  when 
propositions  are  denied,  there  is  an  end  of  them,  but  if 
they  bee  allowed,  it  requireth  a  new  worke ;  which 
false  point  of  wisdome  is  the  bane  of  businesse.  To 
conclude,  there  is  no  decaying  Marchant,  or  inward 
beggar,  hath  so  many  tricks  to  vphold  the  credit  of 
their  wealth,  as  these  emptie  persons  haue  to  maintaine 
the  credit  of  their  sufficiency. 


21.    Of  Riches. 

I  CANNOT  call  Riches  better  then  the  baggage  of 
Vertue;  the  Romane  word  is  better.  Impedimenta;  For 
as  the  baggage  is  to  an  Armie,  so  is  riches  to  vertue : 
It  cannot  be  spared,  nor  left  behinde  ;  but  it  hindreth 
the  March,  yea  and  the  care  of  it  sometimes  loseth  or 
disturbeth  the  victory.  Of  great  Miches  there  is  no 
reall  vse,  except  it  bee  in  the  distribution  :  the  rest  is 
but  conceit.  So  saith  Salomon  :  Where  much  is^  there 
are  many  to  consume  it,  and  what  hath  the  owner  but  the 
sight  of  it  with  his  eies  P  The  personall  fruition  in  any 
man  cannot  reach  to  feele  great  riches ;  there  is  a 
custody  of  them ;  or  a  power  of  Dole  and  donatiue  of 
them ;  or  a  fame  of  them  ;  but  no  solide  vse  to  the 
owner.  Doe  you  not  see  what  fained  prises  are  set 
upon  little  stones,  and  rarities,  and  what  works  of  os- 
tentation are  vndertaken,  because  there  might  seeme  to 
bee  some  vse  of  great  riches  ?  But  then  they  may  be 
of  vse  to  buy  men  out  of  dangers  or  troubles  :  as  Salo- 
mon saith ;  Miches  are  as  a  strong  hold  in  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  rich  man.  But  this  is  excellently  expressed, 
that  it  is  in  Imagination  ;  and  not  alwaies  in  fact.     For 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.  349 

certainly,  great  riches  haue  sold  more  men  then  they 
haue  bought  out.  Seeke  not  proud  Riches  ;  but 
such  as  thou  maiest  get  iustly ;  vse  soberlie,  distribute 
cheerefully,  and  leaue  contentedly.  Yet  haue  no  ab- 
stract, nor  frierly  contempt  of  them.  But  distinguish, 
as  Cicero  saith  well  of  Mabirius  Posthumus :  In  studio 
rei  amplificandce,  apparehat  non  auaritice  prcedam  sed 
instrumentum  honitati  quceri.  Neither  trust  thou  much 
others,  that  seeme  to  despise  them  :  For  they  despise 
them  that  dispaire  of  them,  and  none  worse,  when 
they  come  to  them.  Be  not  penny-wise  ;  Riches  haue 
wings ;  &  sometimes  they  fly  away  of  themselves ; 
sometimes  they  must  bee  set  flying,  to  bring  in  more. 
Men  leaue  their  riches,  either  to  their  kindred,  or  to 
the  publike :  and  moderate  portions  prosper  best  in 
both.  A  great  state  left  to  an  heire,  is  as  a  lure  to  al 
the  birds  of  prey  round  about,  to  seize  on  him,  if  he 
bee  not  the  better  stablished  in  yeeres  &  iudgement. 
Likewise  glorious  gifts,  and  foundations,  are  but  the 
painted  Sepulchres  of  Almes^  which  soone  wil  putrifie 
and  corrupt  inwardly.  Therefore  measure  not  thy  ad- 
uancements  by  quantity,  but  frame  them  by  measure  ; 
and  defen'e  not  charities  till  death  :  for  certainly,  if  a 
man  weigh  it  rightly,  he  that  doth  so  is  rather  liberall , 
of  another  mans,  then  of  his  owne. 


22.    Of  Ambition. 


Ambition  is  like  choler  ;  which  is  an  humor  that 
maketh  men  actiue,  earnest,  fall  of  alacrity  and  stir- 
ring, if  it  be  not  stopped.  But  if  it  be  stopped,  and 
cannot  haue  his  way,  it  becometh  adust,  and  thereby 


350  APPENDIX  II. 

maligne  and  venemous.  So  ambitious  men  if  they 
finde  the  way  open  for  their  rising,  and  still  get  for- 
ward ;  they  are  rather  busie  than  dangerous  :  but  if 
they  be  checked  in  their  desires,  they  become  secretly 
discontent,  and  looke  vpon  men,  and  matters  with  an 
euill  eie,  and  are  best  pleased  when  things  goe  back- 
ward :  which  is  the  worst  propertie  that  can  be  in  a 
seruant  of  a  Prince^  or  State.  .  Therfore  it  is  good  for 
Princes^  if  they  vse  ambitious  men  to  handle  it  so,  as 
they  be  stil  progressiue,  and  not  retrograde :  which  be- 
cause it  cannot  bee  without  inconuenience ;  it  is  good 
not  to  vse  such  natures  at  all.  For  if  they  rise  not 
with  their  seruice,  they  will  take  order  to  make  their 
seruice  fal  with  them.  Of  Ambitions,  it  is  the  lesse 
harmefull,  the  Ambition  to  preuaile  in  great  things ; 
then  that  other  to  appeare  in  euery  thing :  For  that 
breedes  confusion,  and  marres  businesse.  He  that 
seeketh  to  be  eminent  amongst  able  men,  hath  a  great 
taske :  but  that  is  euer  good  for  the  publike.  But  he 
that  plots  to  bee  the  onely  figure  amongst  Ciphers,  is 
the  decay  of  an  whole  age.  Honour  hath  three  things 
in  it ;  The  vantage  ground  to  doe  good ;  The  approach 
to  Kings  and  principall  persons  ;  And  the  raising  of  a 
mans  owne  Fortunes.  He  that  hath  the  best  of  these 
intentions  when  hee  aspireth,  is  an  honest  man  ;  and 
that  Prince  that  can  discerne  of  these  intentions  in 
another  that  aspireth,  is  a  wise  Prince.  Generally,  let 
Princes  and  States  chuse  such  ministers,  as  are  more 
sensible  of  duty,  then  of  rising ;  and  such  as  loue  busi- 
nesse rather  vpon  conscience,  then  vpon  brauery :  and 
let  them  discerne  a  busie  nature,  from  a  willing  minde. 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.  351 

23.   Of  Young  men  and  Age. 

A  MAN  that  is  young  in  yeeres,  may  bee  old  in 
houres  ;  if  he  haue  lost  no  time.  But  that  happeiieth 
rarely.  Generally  youth  is  like  the  first  cogitations, 
not  so  wise  as  the  second  :  For  there  is  a  youth  in 
thoughts,  as  well  as  in  ages.  Natures  that  haue  much 
heat,  and  great  and  violent  desires  and  perturbations, 
are  not  ripe  for  action,  till  they  haue  passed  the  merid- 
ian of  their  yeeres  :  but  reposed  natures  may  doe  well 
in  youth :  as  on  the  otherside  heate  and  viuacity  in  age 
is  an  excellent  composition  for  businesse.  Young  men 
are  fitter  to  inuent  then  to  iudge  ;  fitter  for  execution 
then  for  Counsell ;  and  fitter  for  new  proiects,  then  for 
setled  businesse.  For  the  experience  of  age  in  things 
that  fall  within  the  compasse  of  it,  directeth  them :  but 
in  things  meerly  new  abuseth  them.  The  errors  of 
young  men  are  the  mine  of  businesse :  But  the  errours 
of  aged  men,  amount  but  to  this ;  that  more  might  haue 
bin  done,  or  sooner.  Young  men  in  the  conduct  and 
mannage  of  Actions,  embrace  more  than  they  can  hold, 
stirre  more  then  they  can  quiet,  flie  to  the  end  without 
consideration  of  the  meanes,  and  degrees,  pursue  some 
fewe  principles,  which  they  haue  chanced  vpon  absurd- 
ly, care  not  to  innouate,  which  drawes  vnknowne  in- 
conueniencies  ;  vse  extreme  remedies  at  first :  and  that 
which  doubleth  all  errors,  will  not  acknowledge  nor 
retract  them  ;  like  an  vnready  horse,  that  wil  neither 
stop  nor  turne.  Men  of  age  obiect  too  much,  consulte 
too  long,  aduenture  too  little,  repent  too  soone,  & 
seldome  driue  businesse  home  to  the  full  period ; 
but  content  themselues  with  a  mediocrity  of  successe. 
Certainly  it  is  good  to  compound  imploiments  of  both  : 


352  APPENDIX  II. 

for  that  will  bee  good  for  the  present ;  because  the  ver- 
tues  of  either  age  may  correct  the  defects  of  both :  and 
good  for  succession,  that  young  men  may  bee  learners, 
while  men  in  age  are  Actors  :  and  lastly,  in  respect  of 
externe  accidents,  because  authority  followeth  old  men, 
and  fauour  and  popularity  youth.  But  for  the  morall 
part :  perhaps  youth  will  haue  the  preheminence,  as 
age  hath  for  the  politike.  A  certaine  Rabhy  vpon  the 
Text,  Your  Young  men  shall  see  visions^  and  your  Old 
men  shall  dreame  Dreames :  inferreth,  that  young  men 
are  admitted  neerer  to  God  then  old,  because  vision  is 
a  cleerer  reuelation,  then  a  dreame.  And  certainlie, 
the  more  a  man  drinketh  of  the  world,  the  more  it 
intoxicateth  ;  and  age  doth  profit  rather  in  the  powers 
of  vnderstanding,  then  in  the  vertues  of  the  will  and 
affections. 


24.    Of  Beauty. 

Vertue  is  like  a  rich  stone,  best  plain  set :  and 
surely  vertue  is  best  set  in  a  body  that  is  comely 
though  not  of  delicate  features ;  and  that  hath  rather 
dignity  of  presence,  then  beauty  of  aspect.  Neither  is  it 
almost  scene,  that  verie  beautiful  persons  are  otherwise 
of  great  vertue ;  as  if  nature  were  rather  busie  not  to 
erre,  then  in  labour  to  produce  excellency.  And  there- 
fore they  proue  accomphshed,  but  not  of  great  spirit ; 
and  study  rather  behauiour  then  vertue.  In  Beautie, 
that  of  fauour  is  more  then  that  of  colour  ;  and  that 
of  decent  and  gratious  motion,  more  then  that  of  fa- 
uour. That  is  the  best  part  of  beauty  which  a  picture 
cannot  expresse :  no  nor  the  first  sight  of  the  life :  & 
there  is  no  excellent  beauty,  that  hath  not  some  strange- 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.  353 

nesse  in  the  proportions.  A  man  cannot  tell  whether 
Apelles  or  Albert  Durere  were  the  more  trifler.  Where- 
of the  one  would  make  a  personage  by  Geometrical 
proportions,  the  other  by  taking  the  best  parts  out  of 
diuers  faces,  to  make  one  excellent.  Such  personages 
I  thinke  would  please  no  body,  but  the  Painter  that 
made  them.  Not  but  I  thinke  a  Painter  may  make  a 
better  face  than  euer  was :  But  hee  must  doe  it  by  a 
kinde  of  felicity,  (as  a  Musitian  that  maketh  an  excellet 
aire  in  MusicJc)  and  not  by  rule.  If  it  bee  true  that 
the  principall  part  of  beauty  is  in  decent  motion  ;  cer- 
tain ely  it  is  no  maruell,  though  persons  in  yeeres  seeme 
many  times  more  amiable  Pulchrorum  Autumnus  pul- 
cher.  For  no  youth  can  be  comely,  but  by  pardon,  & 
considering  ^  the  youth,  as  to  make  vp  the  comelinesse. 
Beauty  is  as  sommer  fruits,  which  are  easie  to  corrupt 
and  cannot  last :  and  for  the  most  part,  it  makes  a  dis- 
solute youth,  &  an  age  a  little  out  of  countenance: 
But  yet  certainly  againe,  if  it  light  well,  it  maketh 
vertues  shine,  and  vices  blush. 


25.    Of   Deformity. 

Deformed  persons  are  commonly  euen  with  nature : 
for  as  Nature  hath  done  ill  by  them,  so  doe  they  by 
nature,  being  for  the  most  part  (as  the  Scripture  saith) 
void  of  naturall  affection ;  and  so  they  haue  their  re- 
uenge  of  nature.  Certainlie,  there  is  a  consent  be- 
tweene  the  body  and  the  minde,  and  where  Nature 
erreth  in  the  one;  she  ventureth  in  the  other.  Vbi 
peccat  in  vno  periclitatur  in  altera.     But  because  there 

I  "  and  by  considering,"  in  MS. 
VOL.  XII.  23 


354  APPENDIX  11. 

is  in  man  an  election  touching  the  frame  of  his  minde, 
and  a  necessitie  in  the  frame  of  his  body  ;  the  starres 
of  natural!  inclination,  are  sometimes  obscured  by  the 
sunne  of  discipline  and  vertue.  Therefore  it  is  good 
to  consider  of  deformity,  not  as  a  signe,  which  is  more 
deceiueable ;  but  as  a  cause,  which  seldome  faileth 
of  the  eifect.  Whosoeuer  hath  any  thing  fixed  in  his 
person,  that  doth  induce  contempt;  hath  also  a  per- 
petuall  spurre  in  himselfe,  to  rescue  and  deliuer  himself 
from  scorne.  Therefore  all  deformed  persons  are  ex- 
treme bold :  first,  as  in  their  owne  defence,  as  being 
exposed  to  scorne ;  but  in  processe  of  time,  by  a  generall 
habite.  Also,  it  stirreth  in  them  Industrie,  and  special- 
ly of  this  kinde,  to  watch  and  obserue  the  weaknesse 
of  others,  that  they  may  haue  somewhat  to  repay. 
Againe  in  their  superiours,  it  quencheth  ielousie  towards 
them,  as  persons  that  they  thinke  they  may  at  pleasure 
despise  ;  and  it  layeth  their  competitors  and  emulators 
asleepe :  as  neuer  beleeuing  they  should  bee  in  possi- 
bility of  aduancement,  till  they  see  them  in  possession. 
So  that  vpon  the  whole  matter,  in  a  great  wit,  deformi- 
ty is  an  aduantage  to  rising.  Kings  in  ancient  times, 
and  at  this  present  in  some  Countries  were  wont  to  put 
great  trust  in  EunucJies  ;  because  they  that  are  enuious 
towards  all,  are  more  obnoxious  and  officious  towards 
one.  But  yet  their  trust  towards  them,  hath  rather 
beene  as  to  good  spials,  &  good  whisperers ;  then  good 
Magistrates,  and  officers.  And  much  like  is  the 
reason  of  deformed  persons.  Still  the  ground  is,  they 
will,  if  they  bee  of  spirit,  seeke  to  free  themselues  from 
scorne :  which  must  bee  either  by  vertue,  or  malice ; 
and  therefore  they  prooue  either  the  best  of  men,  or 
the  worst,  or  strangely  mixed. 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.  355 


26.    Of  Nature  in  Men. 

Nature  is  often  hidden,  sometimes  ouercome ;  sel- 
dom extinguished.  Force  maketh  nature  more  violent 
in  the  returne  :  doctrine  and  discourse  maketh  nature 
lesse  importune  ;  but  custome  onely  doth  alter  and  sub- 
due nature.  Hee  that  seeketh  victorie  ouer  his  nature, 
let  him  not  set  himselfe  to  great,  nor  to  small  taskes. 
For  the  first  will  make  him  deiected  by  often  failes ; 
and  the  second  will  make  him  a  small  proceeder,  though 
by  often  preuailings.  And  at  the  first  let  him  practise 
with  helps  as  Swimmers  doe  with  bladders,  or  rushes : 
but  after  a  time  let  him  practise  with  disaduantages,  as 
dauncers  do  with  thicke  shooes.  For  it  breeds  great 
perfection,  if  the  Practise  bee  harder  than  the  vse. 
Wher  nature  is  mighty,  and  therefore  the  victorie 
hard ;  the  degrees  had  need  bee,  first  to  stay  and  arrest 
nature  in  time  :  like  to  him  that  would  say  ouer  the 
foure  and  twenty  letters  when  he  was  angry,  then 
to  go  lesse  in  quan title ;  as  if  one  should  in  forbear- 
ing wine  come  from  drinking  healthes,  to  a  draught  a 
meale  ;  ^  and  lastlie  to  discontinue  altogether.  But  if  a 
man  haue  the  fortitude  and  resolution  to  in  franchise 
himselfe  at  once  that  is  the  best; 

Optimtis  ille  animi  vindex  kedeniia  pectus 
Vincula  qui  rupit,  dedoluitque  semel. 

Neither  is  the  ancient  rule  amisse,  to  bend  nature  as  a 
wand,  to  a  contrary  extreame,  whereby  to  set  it  right ; 
vnderstanding  it,  where  the  contrary  extreme  is  no 
vice.2     Let  not  a  man  force  a  habite  vpon   himselfe 

1  The  words  "like  to  .  .  .  angry,"  and  "  as  if  .  .  .  meale,"  are  not 
in  the  MS. 

2  The  MS.  has  "neither  is  it  amisse  to  bend  nature  to  a  contrarye  ex- 
treame, where  it  is  noe  vice." 


356  APPENDIX  n. 

with  a  perpetual  continuance,  but  with  some  intermis- 
sion. For  both  the  pause  reinforceth  the  new  onset ; 
and  if  a  man  that  is  not  perfect  be  euer  in  practise, 
hee  shall  aswell  practise  his  errors,  as  his  abilities,  and 
induce  one  habite  of  both :  and  there  is  no  meanes 
to  help  this,  but  by  sesonable  intermissions.  A  mans 
nature  is  best  perceiued  in  priuatnesse,  for  there  is  no 
affectation ;  in  passion  for  that  putteth  a  man  out  of  his 
precepts ;  and  in  a  new  case,  or  experiment,  for  there 
custome  leueth  him.  They  are  happy  inen,  whose 
natures  sort  with  their  vocations,  otherwise  they  may 
say,  Multum  ineolafuit  anima  mea^  when  they  conuerse 
in  those  things  they  doe  not  affect.  In  studies  what- 
soeuer  a  man  commandeth  vpon  himselfe,  let  him  set 
hours  for  it.  But  whatsoeuer  is  agreeable  to  his  na- 
ture, let  him  take  no  care  for  any  set  times :  For  his 
thoughts  will  flye  to  it  of  themselues;  so  as  the  spases 
of  other  businesse  or  studies  will  suffice. 


27.    Of  Custome  and  Education. 

Mens  thoughts  are  much  according  to  their  inchna- 
tion  ;  their  discourse  and  speeches  according  to  their 
learning,  and  infused  opinions ;  But  their  deedes  are 
after  as  they  haue  beene  accustomed.  And  therefore 
as  Macciauel  wel  noteth,  (though  in  an  euil  fauoured  in- 
stance) there  is  no  trusting  to  the  force  of  Nature ;  nor 
to  the  brauery  of  words ;  except  it  be  corroborate  by 
custome.  His  instance  is,  that  for  the  atchieuing  of  a 
desperate  conspiracie  a  man  should  not  rest  vpon  the 
fiercenes  of  any  mans  nature,  or  his  resolute  vndertak- 
ings,  but  take  such  a  one  as  hath  had  his  hand  formerly 


EARLY  EDITIONS   OF  THE  ESSAYS.  357 

in  blood.  But  Macciauel  knew  not  of  a  Frier  Clement^ 
nor  a  Rauillac^  nor  a  laurequy^  nor  a  Baltazar  Grerard.^ 
Yet  his  rule  holdeth  still,  that  nature,  nor  the  ingage- 
ment  of  words  are  not  so  forcible  as  custome.  Onelie 
Superstition  is  now  so  well  aduanced,  that  men  of  the 
first  blood,  are  as  firme,  as  butchers  bj  occupation : 
and  votarie  resolution  is  made  equipollent  to  cus- 
tome, euen  in  matter  of  blood.  In  other  things  the 
predominancy  of  custome  is  euery  where  visible ;  inso- 
much as  a  man  would  wonder,  to  heare  men  professe, 
protest,  ingage,  giue  great  words,  and  then  doe  iust,  as 
they  haue  done  before :  as  if  they  were  dead  Images 
&  Engins  moued  only  by  the  wheeles  of  custome. 
Therefore  since  custome  is  the  principal  Magistrate  of 
mans  life :  let  men  by  all  meanes  endeauour  to  obtaine 
good  customes.  Certainly  custome  is  most  perfect 
when  it  beginneth  in  young  yeeres.  This  wee  call 
Education :  which  is  nothing  but  an  early  custome. 
For  it  is  true  that  late  learners  cannot  so  well  take  the 
plie  ;  except  it  be  in  some  mindes,  that  haue  not  suffered 
themselues  to  fixe,  but  haue  kept  themselues  open  and 
prepared  to  receiue  continuall  amendment;  which  is 
exceeding  rare.  But  if  the  force  of  custome  simple, 
and  separate  be  great ;  the  force  of  custom  copulate 
&  conioind,  and  in  troupe,  is  far  greater.  For  thear 
example  teacheth ;  companie  comforteth ;  aemulation 
quickeneth  ;  glory  raiseth  ;  so  as  in  such  places  the 
force  of  custome  is  in  his  exaltation.  Certainelie  the 
great  multiplication  of  vurtues  upon  humane  nature, 
resteth  vpon  societies  well  ordained,  and  disciplined. 
For  Common  wealthes,  and  good  gouemments,  doe 
nourish  vertue  grown,  but  doe  not  mende  the  seeds. 

1 A  blank  is  left  for  this  name  in  the  MS. 


358  APPENDIX  II. 

But  the  miserie  is,  that  the  most  effectual  meanes  are 
now  appUed  to  the  ends  least  to  be  desired. 


28.     Of  Fortune. 


It  cannot  bee  denied,  but  outward  accidents  conduce 
much  to  a  Mans  fortune.  Fauour,  Oportune  death  of 
others  ;  occasion  fitting  vertue.  But  chiefelj  the  mould 
of  a  Mans  fortune  is  in  himselfe.  And  the  most  fre- 
quent of  external  causes  is,  that  the  folly  of  one  man  is 
the  fortune  of  another.  For  no  man  prospers  so  so- 
denly,  as  by  others  errors.  Serpens  nisi  serpentem  co- 
mederit  non  fit  Draco.  Ouert,  and  apparant  vertues  bring 
foorth  praise,  but  there  bee  hidden  and  secret  vertues 
that  bring  forth  fortune.  Certaine  deliueries  of  a  mans 
selfe  which  haue  no  name.  The  Spanish  word  D&- 
semboltura  partlie  expresseth  them,  when  there  be  no 
stonds  nor  restiuenesse  in  a  mans  nature.  For  so  saith 
Liuie  well,  after  he  had  described  Cato  Maior  in  these 
words.  In  illo  vivo  taniu  rolur  corporis  ^  animi  fait,  vt 
quocunq;  loco  natus  esset  fortuna  sihi  facturus  videretur : 
He  falleth  vpon  that,  that  he  had  Versatile  ingenium. 
Therefore  if  a  man  looke  sharpely  and  accentiuely,  hee 
shall  see  fortune ;  for  though  shee  be  blinde,  yet  shee  is 
not  inuisible.  The  way  of  fortune  is  like  the  milkeu 
way  in  the  skie,  which  is  a  meeting,  or  knot  of  a  num- 
ber of  small  starres ;  not  scene  asunder,  but  giuing 
light  together.  So  are  there  a  number  of  little  and 
scarse  discerned  vertues,  or  rather  faculties  and  cus- 
tomes,  that  make  men  fortunate.  The  Italians  note  some 
of  them,  such  as  a  man  would  little  thinke  ;  when  they 
speake  of  one  that  cannot  doe  amisse,  they  will  throw 


EARLY  EDITIONS   OF  THE  ESSAYS.  359 

in  into  his  other  c5ditions,  that  he  hath  Poco  di  matto} 
And  certainly,  there  bee  not  two  more  fortunate  proper- 
ties, then  to  haue  a  little  of  the  foole,  and  not  too  much 
of  the  honest.  Therefore  extreme  loners  of  their  Coun- 
trey,  or  Masters,  were  never  fortunate,  neither  can  they 
bee.  For  when  a  man  placeth  his  thoughts  without 
himselfe,  hee  goeth  not  his  owne  way.  An  hasty  for- 
tune maketh  an  enterpriser  and  remouer ;  (the  French 
hath  it  better  Enterprenat^  or  Remuanf)  but  the  exer- 
cised fortune  maketh  the  able  man.  Fortune  is  to  bee 
honoured  and  respected,  and  it  be  but  for  her  daughters. 
Confidence  and  Reputation  ;  for  those  two  felicity  breed- 
eth :  the  first,  within  a  mans  selfe  ;  the  later,  in  others 
towards  him.  All  wise  men  to  decline  the  Enuie  of 
their  owne  vertues,  vse  to  ascribe  them  to  prouidence, 
and  fortune.  For  so  they  may  the  better  assume  them. 
And  besides,  it  is  greatnesse  in  a  man  to  bee  the  care 
of  the  higher  powers.'-^  And  it  hath  been  noted,  that 
those  that  ascribe  openly  to  much  to  their  owne  wis- 
dome  and  policy,  end  infortunate.  It  is  written,  that 
Timotheus  the  Athenian^  after  hee  had  in  the  account 
he  gaue  to  the  state  of  his  gouernment,  often  inter- 
laced this  speach  :  And  in  this,  fortune  had  no  part ; 
neuer  prospered  in  any  thing  he  vndertooke  after- 
wards. 

1  This  sentence  stands  thus  in  the  MS. :  "  The  Itah'ans  have  found  out 
one  of  them;  Poco  di  matto,  when  they  speak  of  one  that  cannot  do  araisse." 

The  word  note  in  the  text  (which  had  been  omitted  in  the  printing)  is  in- 
serted with  a  pen,  in  both  my  copies  of  this  edition:  evidently  with  the 
same  hand  and  ink,  and  both  old.  Whence  I  infer  that  Bacon,  instead  of 
printing  a  list  of  errata,  had  the  corrections  made  by  hand  before  the  copies 
were  issued. 

2  The  rest  is  not  in  the  MS. 


360 


APPENDIX  n. 


29.    Of  Studies. 

Studies  serue  for  Delight,  for  Ornament,  and  for 
Ability  ;  their  cheife  vse  for  delight,^  is,  in  priuatnesse, 
and  retiring ;  for  ornament,  is  in  discourse,  and  for 
abilitie,  is  in  iudgement.  For  expert  men  can  execute, 
but  learned  men  are  fittest  to  iudge  or  censure.  To 
spend  too  much  time  in  them,  is  Sloth  ;  to  vse  them  too 
much  for  ornament,  is  affectation ;  to  make  iudgement 
wholly  by  their  rules,  is  the  humour  of  a  Scholer, 
They  perfect  Nature^  and  are  perfected  by  Experience. 
Crafty  men  contemne  them,  simple  men  admire  them, 
and  wise  men  vse  them.  For  they  teach  not  their  owne 
vse,  but  that  is  a  wisdome  without  them,  and  aboue 
them,  wonne  by  obseruation.  Read  not  to  contradict, 
nor  to  beleeue,  but  to  weigh  and  consider.  Some 
bookes  are  to  bee  tasted,  others  to  bee  swallowed,  and 
some  few  to  be  chewed  and  digested.  That  is,  some 
bookes  are  to  be  read  only  in  parts ;  other  to  bee  read, 
but  not  curiously ;  and  some  few  to  bee  read  wholly, 
and  with  diligence  and  attention.  Reading  maketh  a 
full  man.  Conference  a  ready  man,  and  writing  an  ex- 
act man.  And  therefore  if  a  man  write  little,  hee  had 
neede  haue  a  great  memory ;  if  he  confer  little,  hee 
had  neede  haue  a  present  wit,  and  if  he  read  little,  hee 
had  neede  haue  much  cunning,  to  seeme  to  know  that 
hee  doth  not.  Histories  make  men  wise.  Poets  wittie, 
the  Mathematiches  subtill,  Naturall  Philosophie  deepe, 
Morall  graue,  Logicke  and  Rethoricke  able  to  contend.^ 
Aheunt  studia  in  mores.     Nay,  thear  is  no  stond  or  im- 


1  The  MS.  has  "  Studies  serve  for  Pastymes,  for  ornaments,  and  for  abilli- 
tyes:  Theire  cheife  use  for  pastyme,  is  "  &c. 

2  In  the  MS.  this  Essay  ends  here. 


EARLY  EDITIONS   OF  THE  ESSAYS.  361 

pediment  in  the  wit,  but  may  be  wrought  out  by  fit 
studies :  like  as  diseases  of  the  body  may  haue  appro- 
priate exercises.  Bowhng  is  good  for  the  Stone  and 
Raines ;  Shooting  for  the  longs  &  breast ;  gentle  walk- 
ing for  the  stomacke;  riding  for  the  head:  and  the 
like.  So  if  a  mans  wit  be  wandring,  let  him  study  the 
Matliematiks  ;  if  his  wit  be  not  apt  to  distinguish,  or 
find  difference,  let  him  study  the  Schoolemen ;  if  it  bee 
not  apt  to  beat  ouer  matters  and  to  find  out  resem- 
blances, let  him  study  Lawyers  cases.  So  euerie  de- 
fect of  the  mind  may  haue  a  speciall  receit. 


30.    Of  Ceremonies  and  Kespects. 

Hee  that  is  onely  reall,  had  need  haue  exceeding 
great  parts  of  vertue  :  as  the  stone  had  neede  to  be  rich 
that  is  set  without  foile.  But  commonly  it  is  in  praise, 
as  it  is  in  gaine :  For  as  the  prouerbe  is  true,  T}iat  light 
gainer  make  Tieauie  purses^  because  they  come  thicke, 
whereas  great  come,  but  now  and  then :  so  it  is  true, 
that  small  matters  winne  great  commendation,  because 
they  are  continually  in  vse,  and  in  note.  Whereas  the 
occasion  of  any  great  vertue,  commeth  but  on  holie 
daise.  To  attaine  good  formes,  it  sufiiceth  not  to  de- 
spise them :  for  so  shall  a  man  obserue  them  in  others  : 
And  let  him  trust  himself  with  the  rest.  For  if  he  care 
to  expresse  them,  hee  shall  lose  their  grace,  which  is  to 
be  naturall  and  vnaffected.  Some  mens  behauiour  is 
like  a  verse  wherein  euery  sillable  is  measured  ;  how 
can  a  man  comprehend  great  matters,  that  breaketh  his 
mind  to  much  to  small  obseruation  ?  Not  to  vse  Cere- 
monies at  al,  is  to  teach  others  not  to  vse  them  againe ; 


862  APPENDIX  II. 

&  SO  diminisheth  respect :  especially  they  bee  not  to  be 
omitted  to  strangers,  &  formall  natures.  Amongst  a 
mans  Peeres,  a  man  shall  be  sure  of  familiarity ;  and 
therefore  it  is  good  a  little  to  keep  state  :  amongst  a 
mans  inferiours  one  shal  be  sure  of  Reuerence ;  and 
therefore  it  is  good  a  little  to  bee  familiar.  Hee  that  is 
too  much  in  any  thing,  so  that  hee  giueth  another  occa- 
sion of  satietie,  maketh  himself  cheap.  To  apply  ones 
selfe  to  others  is  good ;  so  it  be  with  demonstration  that 
a  man  doth  it  vpon  regard,  and  not  vpon  facility.  It  is 
a  good  precept,  generally  in  seconding  another,  yet  to 
adde  somewhat  of  ones  owne ;  as  if  you  will  grant  his 
opinion,  let  it  be  with  some  distinction  ;  if  you  will  fol- 
low his  motion  ;  let  it  be  with  condition  ;  if  you  allow 
his  counsell,  let  it  be  with  alleging  further  reason.^ 
Men  had  neede  beware  how  they  be  too  perfit  in  com- 
plements. For  be  they  neuer  so  sufficient  otherwise, 
their  enuiers  will  bee  sure  to  giue  them  that  attribute 
to  the  disaduantage  of  their  greater  vertue.  It  is  losse 
also  in  businesse  to  be  too  full  of  respects,  or  to  be  to 
curious  in  obseruing  times  and  oportunities.  Salomon 
saith  He  that  considereth  the  wind  shall  not  sowe,  and 
hee  that  looketh  to  the  clowdes,  shall  not  reape.  A  wise 
man  will  make  more  opportunities  than  he  findes. 


31.   Of  Sutors. 


Manie  ill  matters  are  vndertaken,  &  many  good 
matters  with  ill  mindes.  Some  embrace  suits  which 
neuer  meane  to  deale  effectually  in  them,  but  if  they 
see  there  may  be  life  in  the  matter   by  some  other 

1  The  Essay  ends  here  in  the  MS. 


EARLY  EDITIONS    OF   THE  ESSAYS.  363 

meane,  they  will  be  content  to  winne  a  thanke,  or 
take  a  second  reward,  or  at  least  to  make  vse  in  the 
meane  time  of  the  Sutors  hopes.^  Some  take  hold  of 
suits  only  for  an  occasion  to  crosse  some  other,  or  to 
make  an  Information  whereof  they  could  not  other- 
wise haue  apt  pretext,  without  care  what  become  of 
the  suite  when  that  turne  is  serued.  Nay,  some  vn- 
dertake  suits  with  a  full  purpose  to  let  them  fall,  to 
the  end  to  gratifie  the  aduerse  party  or  competitor. 
Surely  there  is  in  sort  a  right  in  euery  suit ;  either 
a  right  of  equity,  if  it  be  a  suit  of  controuersie  or  a 
right  of  desart,  if  it  be  a  suit  of  petition.  If  affec- 
tion leade  a  man  to  fauour  the  wrong  side  in  iustice, 
let  him  rather  vse  his  countenance  to  compound  the 
matter  then  to  carry  it.  If  affectio  leade  a  man  to 
fauor  the  lesse  worthy  in  desart,  let  him  doe  it  with- 
out deprauing  or  disabling  the  better  deseruer.  In 
suits  a  man  doth  not  wel  vnderstand,  it  is  good  to 
referre  them  to  some  friend  of  trust  and  iudgement, 
that  may  report  whether  hee  may  deale  in  them 
with  honour.  Sutors  are  so  distasted  with  delaies 
and  abuses,  that  plaine  dealing  in  denying  to  deale 
in  suits  at  first,  and  reporting  the  successe  barely, 
and  in  challenging  no  more  thankes  then  one  hath 
deserued,  is  growne  not  onlie  honourable,  but  also 
gracious.  In  suits  of  fauour,  the  first  comming  ought 
to  take  little  place :  so  farre  forth  consideration  may 
be  had  of  his  trust,  that  if  intelligence  of  the  mat- 
ter could  not  otherwise  haue  been  had,  but  by  him, 
aduantage  be  not  taken  of  the  note,  but  the  party  left 
to  his  other  meanes.^      To  be  ignorant  of  the  value 

1  The  words  "  or  at  least  ....  hopes  "  are  not  in  the  MS. 

2  The  last  clause  is  not  in  the  MS. 


364  APPENDIX  II. 

of  a  suit  is  simplicity,  as  well  as  to  bee  ignorant  of 
the  right  therof,  is  want  of  conscience.  Secresie  in 
suites  is  a  great  meane  of  obtaining  ;  For  voicing 
them  to  bee  in  forwardnesse,  may  discourage  some 
kind  of  suitors,  but  doth  quicken  and  awake  others. 
But  timing  of  the  suits  is  the  principall.  Timing  I 
say  not  onely  in  respect  of  the  person  that  should 
grant  it,  but  in  respect  of  those  which  are  like  to 
crosse  it.^  Let  a  man  in  the  choise  of  his  meane, 
rather  chuse  the  fittest  meane  then  the  greatest  meane, 
and  rather  them  that  deale  in  certaine  things  then 
those  that  are  generall.  The  reparation  of  a  deniall 
is  sometimes  equall  to  the  first  grant,  if  a  man  shew 
himselfe  neither  deiected,  nor  discontented.  Iniquum 
petas  vt  cequum  feras,  is  a  good  rule  where  a  man  hath 
strength  of  fauour ;  but  otherwise  a  man  were  better 
rise  in  his  suit;  for  hee  that  would  haue  ventured  at 
first  to  haue  lost  the  sutor,  will  not  in  the  conclusion 
lose  both  the  sutor  and  his  owne  former  fauor.  Noth- 
ing is  thought  so  easie  a  request  to  a  great  person  as 
his  Letter ;  and  yet  if  it  be  not  in  a  good  cause,  it  is 
so  much  out  of  his  reputation. 


32.     Of  Follov^ers  and  friends. 

Costly  followers  are  not  to  bee  liked,  lest  while 
a  man  maketh  his  train e  longer,  he  make  his  wings 
shorter.  I  reckon  to  bee  costly,  not  them  alone  which 
charge  the  purse,  but  which  are  wearisome  and  impor- 
tune in  suits.  Ordinarie  followers  ought  to  challenge 
no  higher  conditions  then  countenance,  recommenda- 

1  What  follows,  down  to  "  fonner  favor,"  is  not  in  the  MS. 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.  365 

tion,  and  protection  from  wrongs.  Factious  followers 
are  worse  to  bee  liked,  which  follow  not  vpon  affection 
to  him  with  whom  tjiey  range  themselues,  but  vpon 
discontentment  conceiued  against  some  other.  Wher- 
upon  commonly  ensue th,  that  ill  intelligence,  that  wee 
many  times  see  beetweene  great  personages.  Like- 
wise glorious  followers  are  full  of  inconueniency ;  for 
they  teint  businesse  through  want  of  secrecy,  and 
they  export  honor  from  a  man  and  make  him  a  re- 
turne  in  enuy.^  The  following  by  certaine  States, 
answerable  to  that  which  a  great  person  himselfe 
professeth,  as  of  Souldiers  to  him  that  hath  beene 
imploid  in  the  warres,  and  the  like,  hath  euer  beene 
a  thing  ciuill,  and  well  taken  euen  in  Monarchies  so  it 
be  without  too  much  pompe  or  popularity.  But  the 
most  honourable  kind  of  following,  is  to  be  followed, 
as  one  that  apprehendeth  to  aduance  vertue  and  desart 
in  all  sort  of  persons.  And  yet  where  there  is  no  em- 
inent oddes  in  sufficiency,  it  is  better  to  take  with  the 
more  passable,  then  with  the  more  able.  In  gouem- 
ment  it  is  good  to  vse  men  of  one  rancke  equally: 
For  to  countenance  some  extraordinarily,  is  to  make 
them  insolent,  and  the  rest  discontent ;  because  they 
may  claime  a  due.  But  in  fauour  to  vse  men  with 
much  difference  and  election,  is  good ;  For  it  maketh 
the  persons  preferred  more  thankfull,  and  the  rest 
more  officious;  because  all  is  of  favour.  It  is  good 
not  to  make  to  much  of  any  man  at  the  first,  be- 
cause one  cannot  hold  out  that  proportion.  To  bee 
gouerned  by  one  is  not  good,  and  to  bee  distracted 
with  many,  is  worse ;  but  to  take  aduise  of  some  few 
friends,  is  euer  honourable.  For  lookers  on^  many  times 

1  This  sentence  is  not  in  the  MS. 


366  APPENDIX  II. 

see  more  then  gamesters^  and  the  vale  best  discouereth 
the  hill.  There  is  little  friendship  in  the  world,  and 
least  of  all  between  equals,  which  was  wont  to  bee 
magnified.  That  that  is,  is  betweene  Superiour  and 
Inferiour^  whose  fortunes  may  comprehend  the  one 
the  other. 


33.     Of  Negociating. 

It  is  generallie  better  to  deale  by  speach,  then  by 
letter,  and  by  the  mediation  of  a  third,  then  by  a  mans 
selfe.  Letters  are  good  when  a  man  would  draw  an 
answer  by  letter  backe  againe,  or  when  it  may  serue 
for  a  mans  iustification  afterwards  to  produce  his  owne 
letter,  or  where  it  may  bee  danger  to  bee  interrupted 
or  heard  by  peeces.^  To  deale  in  person  is  good  when 
a  mans  face  breeds  regard,  as  commonly  with  inferi- 
ours,  or  in  tender  cases  where  a  mans  eie  vpon  the 
countenance  of  him  with  whom  one  speaketh,  may 
giue  him  a  direction  how  farre  to  goe,  and  generally 
where  a  man  will  reserue  to  himselfe  libertie  either 
to  disaduowe  or  to  expound.  In  choise  of  instruments 
it  is  better  to  choose  men  of  a  plainer  sort,  that  are 
like  to  doe  that,  that  is  committed  to  them,  and  to 
report  backe  againe  faithfully  the  successe,  then  those 
that  are  cunning  to  cotriue  out  of  other  mens  busines, 
somewhat  to  grace  themselues,  and  will  helpe  the  mat- 
ter in  report  for  satisfaction  sake.  It  is  better  to  sound 
a  person  with  whom  one  deales  a  farre  off,  then  to  fall 
vpon  the  point  at  first,  except  you  meane  to  supprise 
liim  by  some  short  question.  It  is  better  dealing  with 
men  in  appetite,  then  with  those  which  are  where  they 

1  The  last  clause  is  not  in  the  MS. 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.  367 

would  bee.  If  a  man  deale  with  an  other  vpon  con- 
ditions, the  start  or  first  performance  is  all,  which  a 
man  cannot  reasonably  demand,  except  either  the  na- 
ture of  the  thing  be  such  which  must  goe  before,  or 
else  a  man  can  perswade  the  other  party,  that  hee 
shall  still  neede  him  in  some  other  thing,  or  else 
that  he  be  counted  the  honester  man.  All  practise 
is  to  discouer  or  to  worke.  Men  discouer  themselues 
in  trust,  in  passion,  at  vnawares,  and  of  necessity, 
when  they  would  haue  somewhat  done,  and  cannot 
finde  an  apt  pretext.  If  you  would  worke  any  man, 
you  must  either  know  his  nature,  and  fashions,  and 
so  leade  him,  or  his  endes,  and  so  perswade  him ;  or 
his  weaknes  or  disaduantages,  and  so  awe  him,  or 
those  that  haue  interest  in  him,  and  so  goueme  them. 
In  dealing  with  cunning  persons,  we  must  euer  con- 
sider their  endes  to  interpret  their  speeches ;  and  it 
is  good  to  say  little  to  them,  and  that  which  they 
least  looke  for. 


34.    Of    Faction. 


Many  haue  an  opinion  not  wise ;  That  for  a  Prince 
to  gouerne  his  estate,  or  for  a  great  person  to  gouerne 
his  proceedings,  according  to  the  respect  of  factions, 
is  the  principall  part  of  pollicy  :  whereas  contrari- 
wise, the  chiefest  w^isdome  is  either  in  ordering  those 
things  which  are  generall,  and  wherein  men  of  seuer- 
all  factions  doe  neuerthelesse  agree,  or  in  dealing  with 
correspondence  to  particuler  persons,  one  by  one.  But 
I  say  not,  that  the  consideration  of  factions  is  to  be 
neglected.  Meane  men  must  adhere,  but  great  men 
that  haue  strength  in  themselues  were  better  to  main- 


368  APPENDIX  II. 

taine  themselues  indifferent,  and  neutrall.  Yet  euen 
in  beginners  to  adhere  so  moderatly,  as  he  be  a  man 
of  the  one  faction,  which  is  passablest  with  the  other, 
commonly  giueth  best  way.  The  lower  and  weaker 
faction  is  the  firmer  in  coniunction.  When  one  of 
the  factions  is  extinguished,  the  remaining  subdiuid- 
eth  :  which  is  good  for  a  second.  It  is  comonly 
scene,  that  men  once  placed,  take  in  with  the  con- 
trary factio  to  that,  by  which  they  enter.  The  Traitor 
in  factions  lightly  goeth  away  with  it :  for  when  mat- 
ters haue  stucke  long  in  balancing,  the  winning  of 
some  one  man  casteth  them  and  he  getteth  all  the 
thankes.^  The  euen  carriage  betweene  two  factions, 
proceedeth  not  alwaies  of  moderation,  but  of  a  true- 
nesse  to  a  mans  selfe,  with  end  to  make  vse  of  both. 
Certainely  in  Italie  they  hold  it  a  little  suspect  in 
Popes,  when  they  haue  often  in  their  mouth  Padre 
Oommune^  &  take  it  to  a  signe  of  one  that  meaneth 
to  referre  all  to  the  greatnesse  of  his  own  house. 


35.   Of  Praise. 


Praise  is  the  reflection  of  vertue :  but  it  is  as  the 
glasse,  or  bodie  is,  which  giueth  the  reflection.  If  it 
be  from  the  common  people,  it  is  commonly  false  and 
naught ;  and  rather  followeth  vaine  persons,  then  ver- 
tuous:  for  the  common  people  vnderstand  not  many 
excellent  vertues :  the  lowest  vertues  draw  praise  from 
them,  the  middle  vertues  worke  in  them  astonishment, 
or  admiration  ;  but  of  the  highest  vertues  they  haue  no 
sense  or  perceiuing  at  all.     But  shewes,  and  Species 

1  The  Essay  ends  here  in  the  MS. 


EARLY  EDITIONS   OF   THE  ESSAYS.  369 

virtutihus  similes,  serue  best  with  them.  Certainly, 
Fame  is  like  a  Riuer  that  beareth  vp  things  light,  and 
swolne ;  and  drownes  things  waighty  and  solid  :  But  if 
persons  of  quality  &  iudgement  concur,  then  it  is  as  the 
Scripture  saith,  Nbmen  honum  instar  vnguenti  fragran- 
tis  ;  It  filleth  all  round  about,  and  will  not  easily  away. 
For  the  odors  of  ointments  are  more  durable  than  those 
of  flowers.  There  bee  so  many  false  pointes  of  praise, 
that  a  man  may  iustly  hold  it  suspect.  Some  praises 
proceeds  meerely  of  flattery  :  and  if  he  bee  an  ordinary 
flatterer,  hee  will  haue  certaine  common  attributes, 
which  may  serue  euery  man  :  if  he  bee  a  cunning  flat- 
terer hee  will  follow  the  Archflatterer,  which  is  a  mans 
selfe,  &  wherein  a  man  thinketh  best  of  himselfe,  there- 
in the  flatterer  will  vphold  him  most :  But  if  hee  bee 
an  impudent  flatterer,  looke  wherein  a  man  is  conscient 
to  himselfe,  that  he  is  most  defectiue,  and  is  most  out 
of  countenance  in  himselfe,  that  wil  the  flatterer  enti- 
tle him  to  perforce  ;  Spreta  conscientid.  Some  praises 
come  of  good  wishes  and  respects,  which  is  a  forme  due 
in  ciuility  to  Kings  and  great  persons,  Laudando  prce- 
cipere  ;  when  by  telling  men  what  they  are,  they  rep- 
resent to  them  what  they  should  bee.  Some  men  are 
praised  maliciously  to  their  hurt,  thereby  to  stirre  enuie 
and  ielousie  towards  them ;  Pessimum  genus  inimico- 
rum  laudantium.  Certainly  moderate  praise  vsed  with 
oportunity,  and  not  vulgar,  but  appropriate,  is  that 
which  doth  the  good.  Salomon  saith,  Hee  that  prais- 
eth  his  friend  aloud,  rising  early,  it  shall  hee  to  him  no 
better  than  a  curse.  Too  much  magnifying  of  man  or 
matter,  doth  irritate  contradiction,  and  procure  enuie 
and  scorne. 

VOL.  XII.  24 


370  APPENDIX  II. 


36.     Of  Iudicature. 


IvDGES  ought  to  remeber  that  their  office  is  Iub  dir- 
cere,  and  not  Jus  dare ;  to  interprete  law,  and  not  to 
make  law,  or  giue  Law ;  Else  will  it  be  like  the  pre- 
sumption of  the  Church  of  Home,  which  vnder  pretext 
of  exposition  of  Scripture,  vsurpeth  and  practiseth  an 
authority  to  adde  and  alter ;  and  to  pronounce  that 
which  they  doe  not  finde,  and  by  colour  of  Antiquity 
to  introduce  nouelty.  ludges  ought  to  be  more  learned 
then  wittie;  more  reuerend  then  plausible,  &  more 
aduised  then  confident.  Aboue  all  things  integrity  is 
their  portion  and  proper  vertue.  Cursed  (saith  the 
Law)  is  hee  that  remooueth  the  Land-marhe.  The  mis- 
laier  of  a  Meerestone  is  too  blame.  But  it  is  the  vniust 
ludge  that  is  the  capitall  remoouer  of  Land-markes, 
when  hee  defineth  amisse  of  lands  and  property.  One 
foule  sentence  doth  more  hurt,  then  many  foule  exam- 
ples ;  for  they  doe  but  corrupt  the  streame ;  the  other 
corrupteth  the  fountaine.  So  saith  Salomon  ;  Fans  tur- 
hatus  Sj'  vena  corrupta  est  iustus  cadens  in  causd  sud  co- 
ram adversario  ;  The  office  of  ludges  may  haue  refer- 
ence vnto  the  parties  that  sue ;  vnto  the  Aduocates  that 
pleade ;  vnto  the  Clerkes  and  Ministers  of  Justice  vn- 
derneth  them ;  and  to  the  Soueraigne  or  State  aboue 
them. 

There  he  (saith  the  Scripture)  that  turne  iudgement 
into  wormewood  ;  and  surehe  there  be  also  that  turne  it 
into  vinegar:  For  injustice  maketh  it  bitter,  and  de- 
laies  make  it  sowre.  The  principall  duty  of  a  ludge, 
is  to  suppresse  force  and  fraude ;  whereof  force  is  the 
more  pernitious,  the  more  open  ;  and  fraud  the  more 
close  and  disguised.     Adde  thereto  contentious  suites. 


EARLY    EDITIONS   OF   THE  ESSAYS.  371 

which  ought  to  be  spewed  out  as  the  surfet  of  Courts. 
A  ludge  ought  to  prepare  his  way  to  a  iust  sentence,  as 
God  vseth  to  prepare  his  way,  by  raising  valleis  and 
taking  downe  hils :  So  when  their  appeareth  on  either 
side  an  high  hand,  violent  prosecution,  cunning  aduan- 
tages  taken,  combination,  power,  great  counsell,  then  is 
the  vertue  of  a  ludge  scene,  to  make  inequahty  equall; 
that  he  may  plant  his  iudgement  as  vpon  an  euen 
ground.  Qui  fortiter  emungit,  elicit  sanguinem;  And 
where  the  winepresse  is  hard  wrought,  it  yeelds  a  harsh 
wine  that  tastes  of  the  grapestone.  ludges  must  be- 
ware of  hard  constructions  and  strained  inferences;  for 
there  is  no  worse  torture  then  the  torture  of  lawes : 
specially  in  case  of  Lawes  penall ;  they  ought  to  haue 
care  that  that  which  was  meant  for  terrour,  be  not 
turned  into  rigour ;  and  that  they  bring  not  vpon  the 
people  that  shower  whereof  the  Scripture  speaketh  ; 
Pluet  swper  eos  laqueos  :  For  penall  lawes  pressed,  are 
a  showre  of  snares  vpon  the  people.  In  causes  of  life 
and  death,  ludges  ought  as  farre  (as  the  law  permit- 
teth)  in  iustice  to  remember  mercy ;  and  to  cast  a 
seuere  eie  vpon  the  example,  but  a  mercifull  eie  vpon 
the  person. 

Patience  and  grauity  of  hearing  is  an  essentiall  part 
of  iustice,  and  an  ouerspeaking  ludge  is  no  well  tuned 
Cymball.  It  is  no  grace  to  a  ludge,  first  to  finde  that 
which  hee  might  haue  heard  in  due  time  from  the  Barre ; 
or  to  shew  quickenesse  of  conceit  in  cutting  of  counsell 
or  euidence  too  short ;  or  to  preuent  information  by 
questions,  though  pertinent.  The  partes  of  a  ludge  are 
foure  ;  to  direct  the  euidence ;  to  moderate  length,  repe- 
tition, or  impertinency  of  speech  ;  to  recapitulate,  select, 
and  collate  the  materiall  points  of  that  which  hath  beene 


372 


APPENDI] 


said ;  and  to  giue  the  rule  or  sentence.  Whatsoeuer  is 
aboue  these,  is  too  much  ;  and  proceedeth  either  of  glory 
and  willingnesse  to  speake,  or  of  impatience  to  heare,  or 
of  shortnesse  of  memory,  or  of  want  of  a  staid  &  equall 
attention.  It  is  a  strange  thing  to  see,  that  the  bold- 
nesse  of  Aduocates  should  preuaile  with  Judges ;  where- 
as they  should  imitate  God,  in  whose  seate  they  sit,  who 
represseth  the  presumptuous,  and  giueth  grace  to  the 
modest.  But  it  is  more  strange,  that  the  custome  of 
the  time  doth  warrant  Judges  to  haue  noted  fauourites, 
which  canot  but  cause  multiplication  of  fees,  &  suspi- 
tion  of  by-waies.  There  is  due  from  the  ludge  to  the 
Aduocate,  some  commendation  and  gracing,  where 
causes  are  well  handled  &  faire  pleaded  ;  speciallie 
towards  the  side  which  obtaineth  not;  For  that  vp- 
holds  in  the  Client  the  reputation  of  his  counsel,  and 
beats  down  in  him  the  conceit  of  his  cause.  There  is 
likewise  due  to  the  publike  a  ciuill  reprehension  of  Ad- 
uocates, where  there  appeareth  cunning  counsell,  grosse 
neglect,  slight  information,  indiscreet  pressing,  or  an 
ouerbold  defence. 

The  place  of  lustice  is  an  hallowed  place  ;  and  there- 
fore not  onely  the  bench,  but  the  footepace  and  pre- 
cincts and  purprise  thereof  ought  to  bee  preserued  with- 
out scandall  and  corruption.  For  certainely  G-rapes 
(as  the  Scripture  saith)  will  not  he  gathered  of  thornes 
or  thistles;  neither  can  lustice  yeeld  her  fruit  with 
sweetnesse,  amongst  the  briers  &  brambles  of  catching 
and  poling  Clearkes  and  Ministers.  The  attendance 
of  Courts  is  subject  to  foure  bad  instruments ;  First, 
certaine  persons  that  are  sowers  of  suits,  which  make 
the  Court  swel,  and  the  Countrey  pine.  The  second 
sort  is  of  those  that  ingage  Courts  in  quarrels  of  luris- 


EARLY   EDITIONS   OF  THE  ESSAYS.  373 

diction,  and  are  not  truly,  Amici  Ourice,  but  Parasiti 
Curice,  in  puffing  a  Court  vp  beyond  her  bounds  for 
their  own  scrappes  and  aduantage.  The  third  sort  is 
of  those  that  may  bee  accounted  the  left  hands  of 
Courts,  persons  that  are  full  of  nimble  and  sinister 
trickes  and  shiftes,  whereby  they  peruert  the  plaine  and 
direct  courses  of  Courts,  and  bring  iustice  into  oblike 
lines  and  labirinthes.  And  the  fourth  is  the  Poler  and 
exacter  of  fees,  which  iustifies  the  common  resemblance 
of  the  Courts  of  Iustice,  to  the  bush,  wherunto  while 
the  sheepe  flies  for  defence  in  weather,  hee  is  sure  to 
lose  part  of  his  fleece.  On  the  other  side  an  ancient 
Clearke,  skilfull  in  presidents,  wary  in  proceeding,  and 
vnderstanding  in  the  businesse  of  the  Court,  is  an  ex- 
cellent finger  of  a  Court ;  and  doth  many  times  point 
the  way  to  the  ludge  himselfe. 

Lastly,  ludges  ought  aboue  al  to  remember  the  con- 
clusion of  the  Roman  twelue  Tables  ;  Solus  populi  su- 
prema  lex,  and  to  know  that  Lawes,  except  they  bee  in 
order  to  that  ende  are  but  things  captious,  and  Oracles 
not  well  inspired.  Therefore  it  is  an  happy  thing  in  a 
State,  when  Kings  and  States  doe  often  consult  with 
ludges ;  and  againe,  when  ludges  doe  often  consult 
with  the  King  and  State :  the  one,  when  there  is  mat- 
ter of  Law  interuenient  in  businesse  of  State;  the 
other,  when  there  is  some  consideration  of  State  in- 
teruenient in  matter  of  Lawe.  For  many  times  the 
thing  deduced  to  Judgement,  may  be  meu  ^  tuum, 
when  the  reason  and  consequence  thereof  may  trench 
to  point  of  estate  ;  I  call  matter  of  estate  not  only  the 
parts  of  Soueraignty,  but  whatsoeuer  introduceth  any 
great  alteration  or  dangerous  president  or  concerneth 
manifestly  any  great  portion  of  people.     And  let  no 


374  APPENDIX  II. 

man  weakely  conceiue  that  iust  lawes,  and  true  pollicy, 
haue  any  antipathy.  For  they  are  like  the  spirits,  and 
sinewes  that  one  moues  within  the  other.  Neither 
ought  Judges  to  be  so  ignorant  of  their  owne  right,  as 
to  thinke  there  is  not  left  to  them  as  a  principall  part 
of  their  office,  a  wise  use  and  application  of  Lawes. 
For  they  may  remember  what  the  Apostle  saith  of  a 
greater  Law  then  theirs,  Nos  seimus  quia  lex  bona  est, 
modo  quis  ed  vtatur  legitime. 


37.    Of  Vaine-glory. 

It  was  pretily  deuised  of  JEsop,  The  Flies  ate  vpmi 
the  Axletree  of  the  Chariot  wheele,  and  said.  What  a 
dust  doe  I  raise  9  So  are  there  some  vaine  persons, 
that  whatsoeuer  goeth  alone,  or  moues  vpon  greater 
meanes,  they  thinke  it  is  they  that  carry  it.  They 
that  are  glorious  must  needs  be  factious ;  for  all  brauery 
stands  vpon  comparisons.  They  must  needes  be  vio- 
lent, to  make  good  their  owne  vaunts.  Neither  can 
they  bee  secret,  and  therefore  not  effectuall ;  but  accord- 
ing to  the  French  proverb,  Beaucoup  de  bruit  ^  peu  de 
fruit,  Much  bruit,  little  fruit.  Yet  certainely  there  is 
vse  of  this  quality  in  ciuill  affaires.  Where  there  is  an 
opinion  and  fame  to  bee  created,  either  of  Vertue  or 
Cfreatnesse :  these  men  are  good  Trumpeters.  Again, 
as  Titus  Liuius  noteth  in  the  case  of  Antiochus  and  the 
uFjtolians,  There  are  sometimes  greate  effects  of  crosse 
lies  ;  as  if  a  man  that  should  interpose  himselfe  to  nego- 
tiate between  two,  should  to  either  of  them  seuerally 
pretend,  more  interest  than  he  hath  in  the  other.  And 
in  this  and  the  like  kind,  it  often  fals  out,  that  somewhat 


EARLY  EDITIONS   OF  THE  ESSAYS.  375 

is  produced  of  nothing.  For  lies  are  sufficiet  to  breed 
opinion,  and  opinion  brings  on  substance.  But  princi- 
pally in  cases  of  great  enterprise,  vpon  charge  and  ad- 
uenture  such  composition  of  glorious  natures  doth  put 
life  into  busines,  and  those  that  are  of  solid  and  sober 
natures  haue  more  of  the  ballast,  then  of  the  saile. 
Certainely  Vaine-glory  helpeth  to  perpetuate  a  mans 
memory,  and  Vertue  was  neuer  so  beholding  to  humane 
nature,  as  it  receiued  his  due  at  the  second  hand. 
Neither  had  the  fame  of  Cicero^  Seneca^  Plinius  Se- 
eundus,  borne  her  age  so  well,  if  it  had  not  beene  ioin- 
ed  with  some  vanity  in  themselues  ;  like  vnto  varnish, 
that  makes  seelings  not  onely  shine,  but  last.  But  all 
this  while,  when  I  speake  of  Vaine-glory^  I  meane  not 
of  that  property  that  Tacitus  doth  attribute  to  Mm- 
cianus,  Omnium  quce  dixerat  feceratque  arte  quadam 
ostentator :  For  that  proceeds  not  of  vanity,  but  of  a 
natural  magnanimity  and  discretion  ;  and  in  some 
persons  is  not  onely  comely,  but  gracious.  For  excu- 
sations,  cessions,  modesty  it  selfe  well  gouerned  are  but 
arts  of  ostentation  :  and  amongst  those  Arts  there  is 
none  better,  then  that  which  Plinius  Secundus  speak- 
eth  of,  which  is  to  be  liberall  of  praise  &  comendation 
to  others,  in  that  wherein  a  mans  selfe  hath  any  perfec- 
tion. For  saith  Plinie  very  wittily  ;  In  commending 
another^  you  do  your  selfe  right ;  for  hee  that  you  com- 
mend^ is  either  superiour  to  you  in  that  you  commend  or 
inferiour.  If  he  he  inferiour  if  he  be  to  he  commended ; 
you  much  more;  if  he  he  superiour  if  hee  he  not  to  he 
commended;  you  much  lease. 


376 


APPENDIX  II. 


38.     Or   THE    GREATNESSE    OF    KiNGDOMES. 

The  speech  of  Themistodes,  which  was  arrogant  in 
challenge,  is  profitable  in  censure.  Desired  at  a  ban- 
quet to  touch  a  Lute,  hee  said,  ITee  could  not  fiddle  ; 
but  he  could  make  a  small  Towne  to  become  a  great  Citie. 
This  speech  at  a  time  of  solace,  and  not  serious,  was 
vnciuill,  and  at  no  time  could  be  decent  of  a  mans 
selfe.  But  it  may  haue  a  pretie  application ;  For  to 
speake  truly  of  politikes  &  Statesmen,  there  are  some- 
times, though  rarely,  those  that  can  make  a  small 
estate  great,  and  cannot  fiddell.  And  there  bee  many 
that  can  fiddell  very  cunningly,  and  yet  the  procedure 
of  their  Art  is  to  make  a  flourishing  estate  ruinous  & 
distressed.  For  certainly  those  degenerate  Arts,  where- 
by diuers  politikes  and  Gouernors  doe  gaine  both  sat- 
isfactio  with  their  Masters,  and  admiration  with  the 
vulgar,  deserue  no  better  name  than  fidling;  if  they 
adde  nothing  to  the  safetie,  strength,  and  amplitude  of 
the  States  they  gouerne.  The  greatnes  of  a  State  in 
bulke  or  territory,  doth  fall  vnder  measure ;  &  the 
greatnes  of  finances  &  reuenew,  doth  fall  vnder  com- 
putation :  the  population  may  appeare  by  Musters,  and 
the  number  of  Cities  &  Towns  by  Carts  and  Mappes : 
but  yet  there  is  nothing  among  ciuill  affaires  more  sub- 
iect  to  error,  then  the  right  valuacion  and  true  iudge- 
ment  cocerning  the  greatnes  of  an  estate.  Certainly 
there  is  a  kind  of  resemblance  betweene  the  Kingdome 
of  heauen,  and  the  Kingdomes  vpon  the  earth.  The 
Kingdome  of  heauen  is  compared  not  to  any  great 
kernell,  or  nut ;  but  to  a  graine  of  Musterd  ;  which  is 
one  of  the  least  of  graines,  but  hath  in  it  a  propertie 
and  spirit  hastily  to  get  vp  &   spread.     So  are  there 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.       377 

States  that  are  great  in  Territory,  and  yet  not  apt  to 
conquer  or  inlarge :  and  others  that  haue  but  a  small 
dimention  or  stemme,  and  yet  apt  to  be  the  founda- 
tio  of  great  Monarchies.  Walled  Townes,  stored  Ar- 
cenals  and  Armories,  goodly  Stables,  Elephants,  (if 
you  wil)  Masse  of  treasure.  Number  in  Armies,  Or- 
dinance, and  Artillerie,  they  are  all  but  a  Sheep  in 
a  Lions  skin,  except  the  breed  and  disposition  of 
the  people  be  militarie.^  The  helpe  is  mercenary 
aides.  But  a  Prince  or  State  that  resteth  vpon  waged 
Companies  of  forraine  Armes,  and  not  of  his  owne 
Natiues,  may  spread  his  feathers  for  a  time,  but  he  will 
mew  them  soone  after.  The  blessino;  of  ludah  and 
Issachar  will  neuer  meet,  to  be  both  the  Lions  whelpe, 
and  the  Asse  laid  betweene  burthens :  Neither  will  a 
people  ouercharged  with  tributes,  bee  euer  fit  for  Em- 
pire. Nobilitie  &  Gentlemen  multiplying  in  too  great 
a  proportion,  maketh  the  common  subiect  grow  to  bee 
a  pesant  and  base  swaine  driuen  out  of  heart,  and  but 
the  Gentlemans  laborer :  like  as  it  is  in  copices,  where 
if  you  leaue  your  staddels  too  thick,  you  shall  neuer 
haue  cleane  vnderwood,  but  shrubbes  and  bushes.  And 
take  away  the  middle  people,  &  you  take  away  the 
infantery,  which  is  the  nerue  of  an  Armie :  and  you 
bring  it  to  this,  that  not  the  hundreth  pole  will  be  fit 
for  a  helmet,  and  so  great  population  and  little  strength. 
Certainely  Virgil  coupled  Armes  and  the  plough  to- 
gether well  in  the  constitution  of  ancient  Itali/  ; 

Terra  potens  armis  atq  ;  vbere  glebm. 

For  it  is  the  Plough  that  yeeldeth  the  best  soldier; 

1  So  in  the  original ;  and  compare  p.  381.  fourth  line  from  the  bottom : 
whence  it  appears  that  I  was  wrong  in  stating  (vol.  xi.  p.  45.  note  2)  that 
Bacon  always  wrote  either  militar  or  militare. 


378  APPENDIX  II. 

but  how  ?  maintained  in  plentie  and  in  the  hand  of 
owners,  and  not  of   meere  laborers.      Sedentary  and 
within-doores  Arts,  and  nice  manufactures,  that  require 
rather  the  finger  than  the  hand  or  arme,  haue  in  their 
nature  a  contrariety  to  a  disposition  mihtar  :   and  gen^ 
erally,  all  warlike  people  are  a  little  idle,  and  loue  dan- 
ger better  than  pain  :   neither  must  they  be  too  much 
broken  of  it,  if  they  shall  be  preserued  in  vigor.     No 
body  can  be  healthfull  without  exercise,  neither  naturall 
body,  nor  politike ;  &  to  the  politike  body  of  a  King- 
dome  or  estate,  a  ciuill  warre  is  as  the  heate  of  a  feuer : 
but  an  honourable  forraine  warre  is  like  the  heate  of 
exercise.     At   least,   discoueries,  nauigations,   honour- 
able succours  of  other  States  may  keepe  health  :  For  in 
a  slothfull  peace,   both  courages  will  effeminate,  and 
manners  corrupt.     States  liberall  of  naturalization,  are 
capable  of  greatnesse ;  and  the  iealous  states  that  rest 
vpon  the  first  tribe   &  stirpe,  quickly  want  body  to 
Carrie  the  boughes  and  branches.     Many  are  the  ingre- 
dients into  the  receit  of  greatnesse.     No  man  can  by 
care  taking  adde  a  cubit  to  his  stature,  in   the  little 
modell  of  a  mans  body.     But  certainly  in  the  great 
frame  of  Kingdomes  and  Commonwealths,  it  is  in  the 
power  of  Princes  or  Estates  by  ordinances 
and    constitutions,    and    maners    which 
they  may  introduce,  to  sowe  great- 
ness   to    their   posteritie   and 
succession.         But    these 
things  are  commonly 
left  to  chance. 


FINIS. 


Op  Seditions  and  Troubles.^ 

Sheapards  of  people  had  neede  knowe  the  Kalen- 
ders  of  Tempests  in  State ;  which  are  commonlye 
greatest  when  things  growe  to  equalitie  ;  as  naturall 
Tempests  are  greatest  about  the  cequinoctia.  And  as 
there  are  certaine  hollowe  blasts  and  secrett  swellings 
of  Seas  before  Tempests,  so  are  there  in  States. 

ccecos  instare  tumultus 
Scepe  monet,fraudesque,  et  operta  tumescere  bella. 

Certainly,  libells  and  licentious  discourses  are 
amongst  the  signes  of  troubles.  Virgile  giveinge  the 
pedegree  of  fame,  saieth  shee  was  sister  to  the  Gyants. 

Illam  terra  parens  ira  irritata  deorum 
Extremam  utperhibent  Caeo  Enceladoque  sororem 
Progenuit. 

As  if  fames  and  rumors  were  the  reliques  of  seditions 
past ;  but  they  are  no  lesse  the  praeludes  of  Seditions 
to  come.  But  he  notes  it  right,  that  seditious  tumults, 
and  seditious  fames,  differ  noe  more,  but  as  masculine 
and  fseminine.  Also  that  kind  of  obedience  (which 
Tacitus  describeth  in  an  Army)  is  to  be  held  sus- 
pected ;  Erant  in  officio^  sed  tamen  qui  mallent  mandata 
Imperantium  interpretari,  qumn  exequi.  When  mandats 
fall  to  be  disputed  and  distinguished,  and  new  sences 
given  to  them,  it  is  the  first  Essay  of  disobeying.  Also 
as  Machavvell  well  notes,  when  Princes  that  ought  to 
bee  common  fathers  make  themselves  as  a  partie,  and 
1  Had.  MS.  5106. 


380  APPENDIX  II. 

leane  to  a  side  in  the  Estate,  it  is  as  a  boate  that  tilts 
aside  before  it  overthrowes.  Also  when  discordes,  and 
quarrells,  and  factions  are  carryed  openly  and  auda- 
ciously, it  is  a  signe  the  reverence  of  governement  is  lost. 
And  reverence  is  that  wherewith  Princes  are  girt  from 
God,  who  threatneth  the  dissolving  thereof,  as  one  of 
his  great  judgements :  Solvam  cingula  regum.  So  when 
anie  of  the  fower  pillars  of  governement  are  mainely 
shakened,  or  weakened,  which  are  Religion,  Justice, 
Councell,  and  Treasure,  men  had  neede  to  pray  for 
faier  weather.  But  let  us  leave  the  part  of  predictions, 
and  speake  of  the  materialls,  and  the  causes,  and  the 
remedyes.  The  matter  of  seditions  is  of  two  kindes ; 
much  poverty e  and  much  discontent.  Certainely,  so 
manie  overthrowne  estates,  so  manie  votes  for  troubles. 
Lucan  noteth  well  the  state  of  the  tymes  before  the 
civill  warre : 

Hinc  usura  vorax,  rapidumque  in  tempore  foenus, 
nine  concussa  fides,  et  muUis  utile  helium. 

This  same  Multis  utile  helium  is  an  assured  and  infal- 
lible signe  of  a  State  disposed  to  troubles  and  seditions. 
For  discontents,  they  are  the  verie  humors  in  the  pol- 
itique body  apt  to  gather  a  praeternatural  heate  and 
to  inflame.  And  let  not  Princes  measure  the  danger 
of  them  by  this  whether  they  are  just  or  unjust ;  for 
that  were  to  imagine  people  to  reasonable  ;  nor  yet 
by  this,  whether  the  greifes  whereupon  they  arrise  be 
in  true  proportion  great,  or  smale  ;  for  they  are  the 
most  dangerous  kindes  of  discontents  where  the  feare 
is  greater  then  the  feeling.  The  causes  and  motives 
of  Sedition,  are  Religion,  Taxes,  alterations  of  Lawes 
and  Customes,  breakeing  priviledges,  generall  oppres- 


EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  THE  ESSAYS.  381 

sion,  Advauncement  of  unworthie  persons,  Straungers, 
Dearthes,  and  whatsoever  in  offending  people  joyneth 
them  in  a  common  cause.  For  the  remedyes,  there 
maie  be  some  generall  preservatives  ;  the  cure  must 
aunsweare  to  the  particuler  disease.  To  give  moderate 
Hbertye  for  greifes  to  evaporate,  so  it  be  without  bra- 
very or  importunrtye,  is  a  safe  way ;  for  hee  that  tourn- 
eth  the  humours  or  makes  the  wound  bleede  inwardes 
endaungereth  mahgne  ulcers  and  pernicious  impostu- 
mations.  Also  the  part  of  Epimetheus  may  become 
Prometheus  in  this  case.  Hee  when  greifes  and  evills 
flewe  abroade  yet  kept  hope  in  the  bottome  of  the  ves- 
sell.  The  politike  and  artificiall  nourishing  of  some 
degree  of  hopes,  is  one  of  the  best  antidotes  against  the 
poyson  of  discontents ;  and  it  is  a  certaine  signe  of  a 
wise  governement  if  it  can  hold  by  hope  where  it  can- 
nott  by  satisfaction.  Also  the  foresight  and  prevention, 
that  there  be  noe  likely  or  fitt  head  whereunto  discon- 
tents may  resort,  and  under  whom  they  maie  joyne,  is 
a  knowne  but  an  excellent  pointe  of  caution.  I  un- 
derstand a  fitt  head  to  be  one  that  hath  greatnesse  and 
reputation,  that  hath  confidence  with  the  discontented 
partie,  and  upon  whom  they  tourne  theire  eyes,  and 
that  is  thought  discontent  in  his  particular.  Also 
the  deviding  and  breaking  of  anie  combination  that 
is  adverse  to  the  State  is  none  of  the  worst  remedies. 
For  it  is  a  desperate  case  if  the  true  parte  of  the  State 
be  full  of  discord  and  faction,  and  the  false,  entyer  and 
unyted.  Lastlie  lett  Princes  against  all  events  not  be 
without  some  great  person  of  militarye  valew  neare 
unto  them,  for  the  repressing  of  seditions  in  theire  be- 
ginnings. For  without  that,  there  useth  to  be  more 
trepidation  in  Courts  upon  the  breaking  out  of  troubles 


382 


APPENDIX  II. 


then  were  fitt,  and  the  State  runneth  the  daunger  of 
that  which  Tacitus  saieth ;  Atque  is  habitus  animorum 
fait  ut  pessimum  f acinus  auderent  pauci,  plures  vellent, 
omnes  pater entur.  But  lett  such  one  be  an  assured  one 
and  not  popular,  and  holding  good  correspondence  with 
the  gowne  men ;  or  els  the  remedy  is  worse  then  the 
disease. 


III. 

Essays  attributed  to  Bacon  without  authority. 

At  the  end  of  the  Besuscitatio  (published  in  1657) 
Dr.  Rawley  gives  what  he  entitles  "A  perfect  list  of 
his  Lordship's  true  works  both  in  English  and  Latin ;  " 
which  he  concludes  with  these  words :  "  as  for  other 
pamphlets,  whereof  there  are  several,  put  forth  under 
his  Lordship's  name,  they  are  not  to  be  owned  for 
his." 

Any  work  therefore  (not  contained  in  this  list) 
which  had  appeared  before  1657  in  any  publication 
which  Dr.  Rawley  knew  of,  and  had  been  there  as- 
cribed to  Bacon,  must  be  regarded  as  distinctly  denied 
by  him  to  be  Bacon's. 

Now  in  December  1642,  in  which  year  several  of 
Bacon's  smaller  political  pieces  were  published  in  sep- 
arate pamphlets  without  any  editor's  name  or  any 
account  of  the  source  from  which  they  were  taken, 
there  appeared  among  others  a  4to  of  eight  pages  with 
the  following  title:  An  Essay  of  a  King,  with  an  ex- 
planation what  manner  of  persons  those  should  he  that 
are  to  execute  the  power  or  ordinance  of  the  King^s  Pre- 
rogative. Written  hy  the  Bight  Honourable  Francis, 
Lord  Verulam  Viscount  Saint  Alban.  December  2. 
London,  Printed  for  Richard  Best,  1642. 


APPENDIX  III. 


In  1648  appeared  a  4to  volume  of  103  pages,  en- 
titled The  Remaines  of  the  Right  Honorable  Francis^ 
Lord  Verulam,  Viscount  of  St.  Albanes,  sometimes  LorS 
Chancellour  of  England;  being  Essay  es  and  sever  all 
letters  to  severall  great  Personages^  and  other  pieces  of 
various  high  concernment  not  heretofore  published.     A\ 
table  whereof  for  the  reader^  more  ease  is  adjoyned. 
London^  printed  by  B.  Alsop  for  Laurence  ChapmarA 
and  are  to  be  sold  at  his  shop  neer  the  Savoy  in  thel 
Strand,  1648. 

Most  of  the  pieces  in  the  volume  are  genuine,  and 
were  afterwards  published  by  Rawlej  from  the  origi- 
nals. And  it  is  probably  to  this  collection  that  he 
alludes,  when  he  alleges  as  a  reason  for  publishing 
some  things  which  Bacon  himself  did  not  design  foi 
publication,  that  "  through  the  loose  keeping  of  hia 
Lordship's  papers  whilst  he  lived,  divers  surreptitious 
copies  have  been  taken  ;  which  have  since  employed^ 
the  press  with  sundry  corrupt  and  mangled  editions  ; 
whereby  nothing  hath  been  more  difficult  than  to  find 
the  Lord  Saint  Alban  in  the  Lord  Saint  Alban ;  an( 
which  have  presented  (some  of  them)  rather  a  fardle 
of  nonsense,  than  any  true  expression  of  his  Lordship's 
happy  vein  ;  "  and  that  therefore  he  "  thought  himself 
in  a  sort  tied  to  vindicate  those  injuries  and  wrongs 
done  to  his  Lordship's  pen ;  and  at'  once,  by  setting 
forth  the  true  and  genuine  writings  themselves,  to  pre- 
vent the  like  invasions  for  the  time  to  come."  But 
whatever  the  publications  may  have  been  to  which  he 
alluded,  it  is  hardly  conceivable  that  the  existence  of 
this  volume  was  unknown  to  him ;  and  we  must  there- 
fore regard  all  those  pieces  which  it  contains,  and 
which  are  not  directly  or  by  implication  contained  in 


SPURIOUS  ESSAYS.  385 

his  own  "  perfect  list,"  as  included  in  his  general  repu- 
diation. It  does  not,  indeed,  follow  that  none  of  them 
are  genuine ;  because  Rawley  may  have  been  mistaken ; 
but  that  every  such  piece  was  in  Ms  opinion  spurious, 
can  hardly  be  disputed:  and  he  had  such  very  good 
means  of  judging,  that  his  opinion  is  not  to  be  set  aside 
except  upon  very  strong  evidence. 

Now  the  two  first  pieces  in  the  "  Remains  "  are  the 
contents  of  the  pamphlet  of  which  I  have  quoted  the 
title.  Standing  where  they  do,  they  could  not  have 
been  overlooked :  yet  neither  of  them  is  to  be  found  in 
any  of  the  publications  cited  in  Rawley 's  "  perfect  list." 
The  inevitable  inference  is,  that  Rawley  did  not  believe 
them  to  be  the  work  of  Bacon ;  and  certainly  in  this 
case  there  is  no  evidence  internal  or  external  which 
can  justify  us  in  overruling  his  judgment.  The  Es- 
say of  a  King^  does  indeed  contain  several  sentences 
which  are  much  in  Bacon's  manner,  and  which  might 
have  been  written  by  him.  But  the  total  composition 
does  not  read  like  his ;  and  even  if  the  external  evi- 
dences had  been  equally  balanced  (which  is  by  no  means 
the  case;  for  the  fact  that  somebody  thought  it  was 
Bacon's  cannot  be  taken  as  a  counterpoise  to  the  fact 
that  Raivley  thought  it  was  not),  I  should  myself  have 
been  inclined,  upon  consideration  of  the  internal  evi- 
dence alone,  to  reject  it. 

The  other  piece  is  still  less  like  Bacon's  work.  Mr. 
Heath,  finding  it  printed  among  his  writings,  and  know- 
ing nothing  of  its  history,  was  at  once  led  to  doubt  its 
genuineness,  from  a  consideration  of  the  matter  and 
opinions  as  well  as  the  style.  Had  I  thought  its  pre- 
tensions more  reasonable,  I  should  have  reserved  it  for 
another  place:   for  it  has  no  affinity  to  the  class  of 

VOL.  XII.  25 


386 


APPENDIX  III. 


works  with  which  we  are  at  present  dealing.  But  as 
my  only  business  with  it  is  to  discredit  its  pretensions 
to  be  admitted  among  Bacon's  works  at  all,  I  have 
thought  it  better  not  to  separate  it  from  its  companion, 
but  to  print  it  here  in  connexion  with  the  evidence  on 
which  the  question  of  its  authenticity  rests. 

Passing  over  for  the  present  a  little  piece  entitled 
SJiort  Notes  for  Civil  Conversation  (the  claims  of  which 
to  a  place  among  Bacon's  writings  have  other  evidence 
to  support  them,  and  will  be  explained  hereafter),  we 
come  next  to  a  very  remarkable  composition  —  An 
JEssay  on  Death.  This  stands  fourth  in  the  volume, 
and  being  also  too  conspicuous  to  have  been  overlooked, 
must  be  regarded  as  disclaimed  by  Dr.  Rawley.  I  do^ 
not  know  whether  it  had  been  printed  before.  It  \%\ 
an  eloquent  and  touching  composition,  very  peculiar  in- 
style,  and  marked  with  a  "  humorous  sadness  "  which 
reminds  me  of  nobody  so  much  as  Sir  Thomas  Browne. 
Sir  Thomas  Browne  was  born  in  1605,  and  therefore 
there  is  nothing  in  the  date  to  preclude  the  supposition 
that  he  was  the  author  of  it.  How  far  his  never  hav- 
ing claimed  it  is  to  be  taken  as  an  objection,  or  what 
other  difficulties  the  supposition  may  involve,  I  am  not 
well  enough  acquainted  with  his  biography  to  judge. 
But  whoever  may  have  written  it,  I  am  fully  convinced 
that  Bacon  did  not.  Nothing  is  less  probable  than  that 
he  would  have  written  so  grave  a  thing  on  so  grave 
a  subject  merely  as  an  exercise  in  imitating  another 
man's  style ;  and  the  style  is  so  unlike  his  own,  that 
if  we  suppose  him  the  author  of  it  we  must  suppose 
no  less.  And  the  only  reason  we  have  for  imputing  it 
to  him  is,  that  within  twenty-four  years  after  his  death, 
there  was  somebody  or  other  who  thought  it  was  his ; 


SPUEIOUS  ESSAYS.  387 

against  which  must  be  set  the  fact  that  Rawley  thought 
it  was  not. 

Of  two  other  pieces  commonly  printed  among  Bacon's 
works,  and  ascribed  to  him  solely,  I  believe,  on  the 
authority  of  this  same  volume  (to  which  nobody  stands 
sponsor),  — the  Letter  of  Advice  to  Sir  Edward  Coke  on 
occasion  of  his  being  removed  from  the  Chief  Justice- 
ship, and  a  little  tract  entitled  The  Characters  of  a 
believing  Christian^  in  Paradoxes  and  seeming  Contra- 
dictions^ —  I  will  speak  more  fully  when  they  come 
before  me  in  their  proper  places.  That  the  letter  to 
Coke  was  written  by  Bacon,  no  one  can  believe  who 
knows  what  it  is  about ;  but  this  will  be  most  easily 
explained  in  connexion  with  the  events  to  which  it 
relates.  And  the  pretensions  of  the  Christian  Para- 
doxes to  a  place  among  Bacon's  writings,  resting  as 
they  do  entirely  upon  internal  evidence  of  style,  will 
be  best  estimated  upon  comparison  with  his  other  writ- 
ings on  kindred  subjects. 


An  Essay  of  a  King, 

Written  by  Sir  Francis  Bacon. 

1.  A  King  is  a  mortal  God  on  Earth,  unto  whom 
the  living  God  hath  lent  his  own  name  as  a  great  hon- 
our :  But  withal  told  him  he  should  die  like  a  man,  lest 
he  should  be  proud  and  flatter  himself,  that  God  hath 
with  his  name  imparted  unto  him  his  nature  also. 

2.  Of  all  kinds  of  men,  God  is  least  beholding  unto 
them,  for  he  doth  most  for  them,  and  they  do  ordina- 
rily least  for  him. 

3.  A  King  that  would  not  feele  his  Crown  too  heavy 


APPENDIX  III. 


for  him,  must  weare  it  every  day,  but  if  he  think  it  too 
light,  he  knoweth  not  of  what  mettall  it  is  made  of. 

4.  He  must  make  Rehgion  the  Rule  of  government, 
and  not  the  Scale  ;  ^  for  he  that  casteth  in  Religion 
onely  to  make  the  scales  even,  his  own  weight  is  con- 
tained in  these  Characters,  Tehel  uphrasin,  he  is  found 
too  light,  his  Kingdom  shall  be  taken  from  him. 

5.  And  that  King  that  holds  not  Religion  the  best 
reason  of  state,  is  void  of  all  piety  and  justice,  the 
Supporters  of  a  King. 

6.  He  must  be  able  to  give  Counsell  himself,  but  not 
to  relye  thereupon  ;  for  though  happy  events  justifie 
their  Counsells,  vet  it  is  better  that  the  evill  event  of 
good  advice  be  rather  imputed  to  a  Subject  then  a 
Sovereigne. 

7.  He  is  the  Fountain  of  Honour,  which  should  not 
run  with  a  wast  pipe,  lest  the  Courtiers  sell  the  waters, 
and  then  (as  papists  say  of  their  holy  Wels)  to  lose  the 
vertue. 

8.  He  is  the  life  of  the  Law,  not  onely  as  he  is  lex 
loquens  himself,  but  because  he  animateth  the  dead  let- 
ter, making  it  active  towards  all  his  Subjects  prcemio  et 
poena, 

9.  A  wise  King  must  doe  lesse  in  altering  his  Laws, 
than  he  may ;  for  new  government  is  ever  dangerous, 
it  being  true  in  the  body  politique,  as  in  the  corporall, 
that  omnis  suhita  mutatio  est  periculosa,  and  though  it  be 
for  the  better,  yet  it  is  not  without  a  fearfull  apprehen- 
sion ;  For  he  that  changeth  the  fundamentall  Laws 
of  a  Kingdome,  thinketh  there  is  no  good  title  to  a 
Crown  but  by  conquest. 

10.  A  King  that  setteth  to  sale  Seats  of  Justice, 

1  not  to  Ballance  the  Scale.    Eemaim. 


SPURIOUS  ESSAYS.  389 

oppresseth  the  People  ;  for  lie  teacheth  his  Judges  to 
sell  justice,  and  pretio  parata  pretio  venditur  Justitia. 

11.  Bounty  and  Magnificence  are  vertues  vere  regioe^ 
but  a  prodigall  King  is  neerer  a  Tyrant  then  a  par^ 
cimonious :  for  store  at  home  draweth  his  contempla- 
tions abroad :  but  want  supplieth  itself  of  what  is  next, 
and  many  times  the  next  way,  and  herein  he  must  be 
wise,  and  know  what  he  may  justly  doe. 

12.  That  King  which  is  not  feared,  is  not  loved,  and 
he  that  is  well  seen  in  his  craft,  must  as  well  study  to 
be  feared  as  loved,  yet  not  loved  for  feare,  but  feared 
for  love. 

13.  Therefore  as  hee  must  alwayes  resemble  him 
whose  great  name  he  beareth,  and  that  in  manifesting 
the  sweet  influence  of  his  mercy  on  the  severe  stroke  of 
his  Justice  sometimes,  so  in  this  not  to  suffer  a  man  of 
death  to  live,  for  besides  that  the  Land  doth  mourn,  the 
restraint  of  the  Justice  towards  sin  doth  more  retard  the 
affection  of  love,  than  the  extent  of  mercy  doth  inflame 
it,  and  sure  where  love  is  bestowed,^  feare  is  quite  lost. 

14.  His  greatest  Enemies  are  his  Flatterers,  for 
though  they  ever  speak  on  his  side,  yet  their  words 
still  make  against  him.^ 

15.  The  love  which  a  King  oweth  to  the  weal-pub- 
like, should  not  be  restrained  to  any  one  particular,  yet 
that  his  more  speciall  favour  do  reflect  upon  some 
worthy  ones,  is  somwhat  necessary,  because  there  are 
so  few  of  that  capacity. 

16.  Hee  must  have  a  speciall  care  of  five  things,  if 
hee  would  not  have  his  Crown  to  be  put  upon  him.^ 

1  So  in  the  original,  and  in  the  Remains  also. 

2  So  in  the  Remains.    The  original  has  "  against  them." 

8  So  in  the  original.  The  Remains  gives  "  to  be  put  on  him  In  felix 
felicitatis."  Modern  editions  substitute,  correctly  perhaps,  "  to  be  but  to 
him  infelixfelicitas.^^ 


First,  that  simulata  sanetitas,  be  not  in  the  Church, 
for  that  is  duplex  iniquitas. 

Secondly,  that  inutilis  cequitas,  sit  not  in  the  Chan- 
cery, for  that  is  inepta  misericordia. 

Thirdly,  that  utilis  iniquitas^  keep  not  the  Ex- 
chequer, for  that  is  crudele  latrocinium. 

Fourthly,  that  fidelis  temeritas  be  not  his  Generall, 
for  that  will  bring  but  seram  poenitentiam. 

Fifthly,  that  infidelis  prudentia,  be  not  his  Secretary, 
for  that  he  is  Anguis  sub  viridi  herha. 

To  conclude,  as  hee  is  of  the  greatest  power,  so  hee 
is  subject  to  the  greatest  cares,  made  the  servant  of  his 
people,  or  else  he  were  without  a  calling  at  all. 

He  then  that  honoureth  him  not,  is  next  an  Atheist, 
wanting  the  feare  of  God  in  his  heart. 


An  explanation  what  manner  of  persons  those  should  he^ 
that  are  to  execute  the  power  or  Ordinance  of  the  Kings 
Prerogative^  written  by  the  said  Sir  Francis  Bacon, 
late  Lord  Chancellour^  and  Lord  St.  Albans. 

That  absolute  Prerogative  according  to  the  Kings 
pleasure  revealed  by  his  Lawes,  may  be  exercised  and 
executed  by  any  Subject,  to  whom  power  may  be 
given  by  the  King,  in  any  place  of  Judgement  or 
Commission,  which  the  King  by  his  Law  hath  or- 
dained, in  which  the  Judge-subordinate  cannot  wrong 
the  people,  the  Law  laying  downe  a  measure  by  which 
every  Judge  should  governe  or  execute ;  Against  which 
Law  if  any  Judge  proceed,  he  is  by  the  Law  question- 
able and  punishable  for  his  transgression. 

In  this  nature  are  all  the  Judges  and  Commission- 


SPURIOUS   ESSAYS.  391 

ers  of  the  Land  no  otherwise  then  in  their  Courts, 
in  which  the  King  in  person  is  supposed  to  sit,  who 
cannot  make^  that  trespasse.  Felony  or  treason  which 
the  Law  hath  not  made  so  to  be,  neither  can  punish 
the  guilty  by  other  punishment  then  the  Law  hath 
appointed. 

This  Prerogative  or  power  as  it  is  over  all  the  Sub- 
jects, so  being  knowne  by  the  Subjects,  they  are  with- 
out excuse  if  they  offend ;  and  suffer  no  wrong,  if  they 
be  punished.  And  by  this  prerogative  the  King  gov- 
erneth  all  sorts  of  people  according  unto  knowne  will. 

The  absolute  prerogative  which  is  in  Kings  accord- 
ing to  their  private  will  and  judgement  cannot  be  exe- 
cuted by  any  Subject,  neither  is  it  possible  to  give  such 
power  by  Commission,  or  fit  to  subject  the  people  to 
the  same.  For  the  King  in  that  he  is  the  substitute  of 
God,  immediatly  the  Father  of  his  people,  and  head  of 
the  Common  wealth,  hath^  by  participation  with  God 
and  his  subjects.  Discretion,  Judgement,  and  feeling 
love  towards  those  over  whom  he  raigneth  only  proper 
to  himselfe,  or  to  his  places  and  person,  who  seeing 
he  cannot  in  any  others  diffuse  his  wisedome,  power, 
or  gifts,  which  God  in  respect  of  his  place  and  charge 
hath  enabled  him  withall,  can  neither  subordinate  any 
other  ludge  to  governe  by  that  knowledge,  which  the 
King  can  no  otherwise  then  by  his  knowne  will  parti- 
cipate unto  him.  And  if  any  subordinate  Judge  shall 
obtaine  Commission  according  to  the  discretion^  of 
such  ludge  to  govern  the  people,  that  ludge  is  bound 
to  think  that  to  be  his   sound  discretion,  which*  the 

1  So  Remains.  The  original  has  ''  worke." 

2  So  Remains.  The  original  omits  "  hath.'' 

3  So  Remains.  The  words  "  to  the  discretion  "  are  omitted  in  the  original. 

4  So  Remains.  The  original  has  "  in  which." 


392 


APPENDIX  m. 


law  in  which  the  Kings  known  will  sheweth  unto 
him  ^  to  be  that  lustice  which  hee  ought  to  admin- 
ister :  otherwise  he  might  seeme  to  esteeme  himselfe 
above  the  Kings  law,  who  will  not  goveme  by  him, 
or  to  have  a  power  derived  from  other  then  from  the 
King,  which  in  the  Kingdome  will  administer  lustice 
contrarie  to  the  justice  of  the  Land.  Neither  can 
such  a  Judge  or  Commissioner  under  the  name  of  his 
high  Authoritie  shrowde  his  owne  high  affection,  see- 
ing the  Conscience  and  discretion  of  every  man  is  par- 
ticular and  private  to  himselfe  ;  As  the  discretion  of 
the  Judge  cannot  be  properly  or  possibly  the  discre- 
tion of  the  King,  or  conscience  of  the  King ;  And  if 
not  his  discretion,  neither  the  Judgement  that  is  ruled 
by  another  mans  only.  Therefore  it  may  seeme  they 
rather  desire  to  bee  Kings  then  to  rule  the  peopie  under 
the  King,  which  will  not  administer  Justice  by  law,  but 
by  their  owne  wills. 

This  Administration  in  a  subject  is  derogative  to  the 
Kings  Prerogative,  for  he  administreth  Justice  out  of 
a  private  direction,  being  not  capable  of  a  generall 
direction,  how  to  use  the  Kings  pleasure  in  Causes 
of  particular  respect,  which  if  another  then  the  King 
himselfe  can  doe,  how  can  it  be  so,  that  any  man 
should  desire  that  which  is  unfit  and  impossible,  but 
that  it  must  proceed  out  of  some  exorbitant  affection, 
the  rather  seeing  such  places  to  be  full  of  trouble,  and 
being  altogether  unnecessary,  no  man  will  seeke  to 
thrust  himselfe  into  it,  but  for  hope  of  gaine.  Then  is 
not  any  prerogative  oppugned  but  maintained,  though 
it  be  desired  that  every  subordinate  Magistrate  may  not 


1  So  both  copies.    It  should  probably  be  "  in  which  the  king's  known 
will  is  contained." 


SPUEIOUS  ESSAYS.  393 

be  made  supreame,  whereby  he  may  seale  up  the  hearts 
of  the  people,  take  from  the  King  the  respect  due  unto 
him  only,  or  to  judge  the  people  otherwise  then  the 
King  doth  himselfe. 

And  although  the  Prince  be  not  bound  to  render 
any  accompt  to  the  Law,  which  in  person  administreth 
it  selfe :  ^  Yet  every  subordinate  Judge  must  render  an 
accompt  to  the  King  by  his  lawes  how  hee  hath  admin- 
istred  Justice  in  his  place  where  he  is  set.  But  if  he 
hath  power  to  rule  by  private  direction,  for  which  there 
is  no  law,  how  can  he  be  questioned  by  a  law,  if  in  his 
private  censure  he  offendeth. 

Therefore  it  seemeth  that  in  giving  such  authority 
the  Kino;  ordaineth  not  subordinate  Mao-istrates,  but 
absolute  Kings  ;  And  what  doth  the  King  leave  to 
himselfe,  who  giveth  so  much  to  others  as  he  hath 
himself?  neither  is  there  a  greater  bond  to  tie  the 
subject  to  his  Prince  in  particular  then  when  he  shal 
have  recourse  unto  him  in  his  person  or  in  his  power 
for  releif  of  the  wrongs  which  from  private  men  be  of- 
fered, or  for  reformation  of  the  oppressions  which  any 
subordinate  Magistrate  shall  impose  upon  the  people : 
there  can  be  no  offence  in  the  Judge,  who  hath 
power  to  execute  according  to  his  discretion,  when 
the  discretion  of  any  Judge  shall  be  thought  fit  to 
be  unlimited ;  ^  And  therefore  there  can  be  therein 
no  reformation,  whereby  the  King  in  this  useth  no 
prerogative  to  gaine  his  Subjects  right.  Then  the 
subject  is  bound  to  suffer  helplesse  wrong,  and  the 
discontent  of  the  people  is  cast  upon  the  King,  the 
lawes  being  neglected,  which  with  their  equitie  in  all 

1  So  both  copies.     It  should  probably  be  "himself." 

2  So  the  original.     The  Remains  has  "  limited." 


other  Causes  and  Judgements,  saving  this,  interposi 
themselves  and  yeeld  remedy. 

And  to  conclude,  Custome  cannot  confirme  that 
which  is  any  wayes  unreasonable  of  it  selfe  ;  Wise- 
dome  will  not  allow  that  which  is  many  wayes  danger- 
ous, and  no  wayes  profitable  ;  Justice  will  not  approve 
that  government,  where  it  cannot  be  but  wrong  must 
be  committed.  Neither  can  there  be  any  rule  by  which 
to  try  it,  nor  meanes  for  reformation  of  it. 

Therefore  whosoever  desireth  Government,  must 
seeke  such  as  he  is  capable  of,  not  such  as  seemeth  to 
himselfe  most  easie  to  execute ;  For  it  appeareth  that 
it  is  easie  to  him  that  knoweth  not  law  nor  justice  to 
rule  as  he  listeth,  his  will  never  wanting  a  power  to 
it  selfe :  but  it  is  safe  and  blamelesse  both  for  the  Judge 
and  People,  and  honour  to  the  King,  that  Judges  bee 
appointed  who  know  the  Law,  and  that  they  bee  lim- 
ited to  governe  according  to  the  Law. 


An  Essay  on  Death, 

By  the  Lord  Chancellor  Bacon,  i 

I  HAVE  often  thought  upon  death,  and  find  it  the 
least  of  all  evils.  All  that  which  is  past  is  as  a 
dream  ;  and  he  that  hopes  or  depends  upon  time 
coming,  dreams  waking.  So  much  of  our  life  as  we 
have  discovered  is  already  dead ;  and  all  those  hours 
which  we  share,  even  from  the  breasts  of  our  mother, 
until  we  return  to  our  grand-mother  the  earth,  are 
part  of  our  dying  days ;  whereof  even  this  is  one,  and 

1  Remains,  p.  7. 


SPURIOUS   ESSAYS.  395 

those  that  succeed  are  of  the  same  nature  ;  for  we  die 
daily ;  and  as  others  have  given  place  to  us,  so  we  must 
in  the  end  give  way  to  others. 

Physicians,  in  the  name  of  death  include  all  sorrow, 
anguish,  disease,  calamity,  or  whatsoever  can  fall  in  the 
life  of  man,  either  grievous  or  unwelcome :  but  these 
things  are  familiar  unto  us,  and  we  suffer  them  every 
hour ;  therefore  we  die  daily,  and  I  am  older  since  I 
affirmed  it. 

I  know  many  wise  men  that  fear  to  die ;  for  the 
change  is  bitter,  and  flesh  would  refuse  to  prove  it : 
besides,  the  expectation  brings  terror,  and  that  ex- 
ceeds the  evil.  But  I  do  not  believe  that  any  man 
fears  to  be  dead,  but  only  the  stroke  of  death  :  and 
such  are  my  hopes,  that  if  heaven  be  pleased,  and 
nature  renew  but  my  lease  for  twenty-one  years  more, 
without  asking  longer  days,  I  shall  be  strong  enough 
to  acknowledge  without  mourning  that  I  was  begotten 
mortal.  Virtue  walks  not  in  the  highway,  though  she 
go  per  alta;  this  is  strength  and  the  blood  to  virtue, 
to  contemn  things  that  be  desired,  and  to  neglect  that 
which  is  feared. 

Why  should  man  be  in  love  with  his  fetters,  though 
of  gold  ?  Art  thou  drowned  in  security  ?  Then  I  say 
thou  art  perfectly  dead.  For  though  thou  mo  vest,  yet 
thy  soul  is  buried  within  thee,  and  thy  good  angel  either 
forsakes  his  guard  or  sleeps.  There  is  nothing  under 
heaven,  saving  a  true  friend,  who  cannot  be  counted 
within  the  number  of  moveables,  unto  which  my  heart 
doth  lean.  And  this  dear  freedom  hath  begotten  me 
this  peace,  that  I  mourn  not  for  that  end  which  must 
be,  nor  spend  one  wish  to  have  one  minute  added  to 
the  incertain  date  of  my  years.     It  was  no  mean  ap- 


396 


APPENDIX  in. 


prehension  of  Lucian,  who  says  of  Menlppus,  that  in 
his  travels  through  hell  he  knew  not  the  kings  of  the. 
earth  from  other  men,  but  only  by  their  louder  cryings 
and  tears  :  which  was  fostered  in  them  through  the] 
remorseful  memory  of  the  good  days  they  had  seen, 
and  the  fruitful  havings  which  they  so  unwillingly  left 
behind  them :  he  that  was  well  seated,  looked  back  at 
his  portion,  and  was  loth  to  forsake  his  farm  ;  anil 
others  either  minding  marriages,  pleasures,  profit,  or 
preferment,  desired  to  be  excused  from  death's  ban- 
quet :  they  had  made  an  appointment  with  earth,  look- 
ing at  the  blessings,  not  the  hand  that  enlarged  them, 
forgetting  how  unclothedly  they  came  hither,  or  with 
what  naked  ornaments  they  were  arrayed. 

But  were  we  servants  of  the  precept  given,  and 
observers  of  the  heathens  rule  memento  mori,  and  not 
become  benighted  with  this  seeming  felicity,  we  should 
enjoy  them  as  men  prepared  to  lose,  and  not  wind  up 
our  thoughts  upon  so  perishing  a  fortune  ;  he  that  is 
not  slackly  strong  (as  the  servants  of  pleasure),  how 
can  he  be  found  unready  to  quit  the  veil  and  false  vis- 
age of  his  perfection  ?  The  soul  having  shaken  off  her 
flesh,  doth  then  set  up  for  herself,  and  contemning 
things  that  are  under,  shews  what  finger  hath  enforced 
her  ;  for  the  souls  of  idiots  are  of  the  same  piece  with 
those  of  statesmen,  but  now  and  then  nature  is  at  a 
fault,  and  this  good  guest  of  ours  takes  soil  in  an  un- 
perfect  body,  and  so  is  slackened  from  shewing  her 
wonders  ;  like  an  excellent  musician,  which  cannot 
utter  himself  upon  a  defective  instrument. 

But  see  how  I  am  swarved,  and  lose  my  course, 
touching  at  the  soul,  that  doth  least  hold  action  with 
death,  who  hath  the  surest  property  in  this  frail  act ; 


SPURIOUS  ESSAYS.  397 

his  stile  is  the  end  of  all  flesh,  and  the  beginning  of 
incorruption. 

This  Ruler  of  Monuments  leads  men  for  the  most 
part  out  of  this  world  with  their  heels  forward,  in  to- 
ken that  he  is  contrary  to  life  ;  which  being  obtained, 
sends  men  headlong  into  this  wretched  theatre,  where 
being  arrived,  their  first  language  is  that  of  mourning. 
Nor  in  my  own  thoughts  can  I  compare  men  more  fitly 
to  any  thing,  than  to  the  Indian  fig-tree,  which  being 
ripened  to  his  full  height,  is  said  to  decline  his  branches 
down  to  the  earth ;  whereof  she  conceives  again,  and 
they  become  roots  in  their  own  stock. 

So  man  having  derived  his  being  from  the  earth, 
first  lives  the  life  of  a  tree,  drawing  his  nourishment  as 
a  plant ;  and  made  ripe  for  death  he  tends  downwards, 
and  is  sowed  a^ain  in  his  mother  the  earth,  where  he 
perisheth  not,  but  expects  a  quickening. 

So  we  see  death  exempts  not  a  man  from  being,  but 
only  presents  an  alteration  ;  yet  there  are  some  men, 
I  think,  that  stand  otherwise  persuaded.  Death  finds 
not  a  worse  friend  than  an  alderman,  to  whose  door 
I  never  knew  him  welcome  ;  but  he  is  an  importunate 
guest,  and  will  not  be  said  nay. 

And  though  they  themselves  shall  affirm  that  they 
are  not  within,  yet  the  answer  will  not  be  taken  ;  and 
that  which  heightens  their  fear  is,  that  they  know  they 
are  in  danger  to  forfeit  their  flesh,  but  are  not  wise 
of  the  payment  day  :  which  sickly  uncertainty  is  the 
occasion  that  (for  the  most  part)  they  step  out  of  this 
world  unfurnished  for  their  general  account,  and  being 
all  unprovided,  desire  yet  to  hold  their  gravity,  prepar- 
ing their  souls  to  answer  in  scarlet. 

Thus  I  gather  that  death  is  unagreeable  to  most  citi- 


398 


zens,  because  they  commonly  die  intestate  :  this  being 
a  rule,  that  when  their  will  is  made,  they  think  them- 
selves nearer  a  grave  than  before  :  now  they,  out  of 
the  wisdom  of  thousands,  think  to  scare  destiny,  from 
which  there  is  no  appeal,  by  not  making  a  will,  or  to 
live  longer  by  protestation  of  their  unwillingness  to 
die.  They  are  for  the  most  part  well  made  in  this 
world,  (accounting  their  treasure  by  legions,  as  men 
do  devils,)  their  fortune  looks  towards  them,  and  they 
are  willing  to  anchor  at  it,  and  desire  (if  it  be  possible) 
to  put  the  evil  day  far  off  from  them,  and  to  adjourn 
their  ungrateful  and  killing  period. 

No,  these  are  not  the  men  which  have  bespoken 
death,  or  whose  looks  are  assured  to  entertain  a  thought 
of  him. 

Death  arrives  gracious  only  to  such  as  sit  in  dark- 
ness, or  lie  heavy  burdened  with  grief  and  irons  ;  to 
the  poor  Christian,  that  sits  bound  in  the  galley  ;  to 
despairful  widows,  pensive  prisoners,  and  deposed  kings : 
to  them  whose  fortune  runs  back,  and  whose  spirit  mu- 
tinies ;  unto  such  death  is  a  redeemer,  and  the  grave  a 
place  for  retiredness  and  rest. 

These  wait  upon  the  shore  of  death,  and  waft  unto 
him  to  draw  near,  wishing  above  all  others,  to  see  his 
star,  that  they  might  be  led  to  his  place,  wooing  the 
remorseless  sisters  to  wind  down  the  watch  of  their 
life,  and  to  break  them  off  before  the  hour. 

But  death  is  a  doleful  messenger  to  an  usurer,  and 
fate  untimely  cuts  their  thread  :  for  it  is  never  men- 
tioned by  him,  but  when  rumours  of  war  and  civil  tu- 
mults put  him  in  mind  thereof. 

And  when  many  hands  are  armed,  and  the  peace  of 
a  city  in  disorder,  and  the  foot  of  the  common  soldiers 


SPURIOUS  ESSAYS.  399 

sounds  an  alarm  on  his  stairs,  then  perhaps  such  a  one, 
(broken  in  thoughts  of  his  moneys  abroad,  and  cursing 
the  monuments  of  coin  which  are  in  his  house),  can 
be  content  to  think  of  death,  and  (being  hasty  of  per- 
dition) will  perhaps  hang  himself,  lest  his  throat  should 
be  cut ;  provided  that  he  may  do  it  in  his  study,  sur- 
rounded with  wealth,  to  which  his  eye  sends  a  faint 
and  languishing  salute,  even  upon  the  turning  off;  re- 
membering always,  that  he  have  time  and  liberty,  by 
writing,  to  depute  himself  as  his  own  heir. 

For  that  is  a  great  peace  to  his  end,  and  reconciles 
him  wonderfully  upon  the  point. 

Herein  we  all  dally  with  ourselves,  and  are  without 
proof  of  necessity.^  I  am  not  of  those  that  dare  prom- 
ise to  pine  away  myself  in  vain-glory,  and  I  hold  such 
to  be  but  feat  boldness,  and  them  that  dare  commit  it 
to  be  vain.  Yet  for  my  part,  I  think  nature  should  do 
me  great  wrong,  if  I  should  be  so  long  in  dying,  as  I 
was  in  being  born.^ 

To  speak  truth,  no  man  knows  the  lists  of  his  own 
patience  ;  nor  can  divine  how  able  he  shall  be  in  his 
sufferings,  till  the  storm  come,  (the  perfectest  virtue 
being  tried  in  action,)  but  I  would  (out  of  a  care  to 
do  the  best  business  well)  ever  keep  a  guard,  and  stand 
upon  keeping  faith  and  a  good  conscience. 

And  if  wishes  might  find  place,  I  would  die  to- 
gether, and  not  my  mind  often,  and  my  body  once  ; 
that  is,  I  would  prepare  for  the  messengers  of  death, 
sickness  and  affliction,  and  not  wait  long,  or  be  at- 
tempted by  the  violence  of  pain. 

1  So  the  original.  Modem  editions  read  "till  necessity:"  probably  a 
conjectural  correction;  and  (I  suspect)  not  the  true  reading. 

2  them  in  the  last  sentence,  and  yet  in  this,  are  omitted  in  the  original. 


Herein  I  do  not  profess  myself  a  Stoic,  to  hold  grief 
no  evil,  but  opinion,  and  a  thing  indifferent. 

But  I  consent  with  Caesar,  that  the  suddenest  pj 
sage  is  easiest,  and  there  is  nothing  more  awakens  oi 
resolve  and  readiness  to  die,  than  the  quieted  coi 
science,  strengthened  with  opinion  that  we  shall  be 
well  spoken  of  upon  earth  by  those  that  are  just,  and 
of  the  family  of  virtue  ;  the  opposite  whereof  is  a  fury 
to  man,  and  makes  even  life  unsweet. 

Therefore,  what  is  more  heavy  than  evil  fame  de- 
served ?  Or,  likewise,  who  can  see  worse  days,  than 
he  that  yet  living  doth  follow  at  the  funerals  of  his 
own  reputation  ? 

I  have  laid  up  many  hopes,  that  I  am  privileged 
fi-om  that  kind  of  mourning,  and  could  wish  the  like 
peace  to  all  those  with  whom  I  wage  love. 

I  might  say  much  of  the  commodities  that  death  can 
sell  a  man  ;  but  briefly,  death  is  a  friend  of  ours,  and 
he  that  is  not  ready  to  entertain  him,  is  not  at  home. 
Whilst  I  am,  my  ambition  is  not  to  fore-flow  the  tide ; 
I  have  but  so  to  make  my  interest  of  it,  as  I  may  ac- 
count for  it ;  I  would  wish  nothing  but  what  might 
better  my  days,  nor  desire  any  greater  place  than  the 
front  of  good  opinion.  I  make  not  love  to  the  contin- 
uance of  days,  but  to  the  goodness  of  them ;  nor  wish 
to  die,  but  refer  myself  to  my  hour,  which  the  great 
dispenser  of  all  things  hath  appointed  me ;  yet  as  I  am 
frail,  and  suffered  for  the  first  fault,  were  it  given  me 
to  choose,  I  should  not  be  earnest  to  see  the  evening 
of  my  age  ;  that  extremity  of  itself  being  a  disease, 
and  a  mere  return  into  infancy :  so  that  if  perpetuity 
of  life  might  be  given  me,  I  should  think  what  the 
Greek  poet  said,   Such  an  age  is  a  mortal  evil.     And 


SPURIOUS  ESSAYS.  401 

since  I  must  needs  be  dead,  I  require  it  may  not  be 
done  before  mine  enemies,  that  I  be  not  stript  before  I 
be  cold  ;  but  before  my  friends.  The  "night  was  even 
now  ;  but  that  name  is  lost ;  it  is  not  now  late,  but 
early.  Mine  eyes  begin  to  discharge  their  watch,  and 
compound  with  this  fleshly  weakness  for  a  time  of  per- 
petual rest ;  and  I  shall  presently  be  as  happy  for  a 
few  hours,  as  I  had  died  the  first  hour  I  was  born. 


26 


DE  SAPIENTIA  VETEEUI. 


PREFACE 


The  treatise  De  Sapientia  Veterum  was  first  pub- 
lished in  1609,  in  a  small  duodecimo  volume,  carefully 
and  beautifully  printed  in  the  elegant  italic  type  then 
in  use.  It  appears  to  have  become  speedily  popular, 
and  was  once  or  twice  reprinted  during  Bacon's  life, 
and  translated  both  into  English  and  Italian.  In  1623, 
he  introduced  three  of  the  fables,  revised  and  consider- 
ably enlarged,  into  the  De  Augmentis  Scientiarum,  as  a 
specimen  of  one  of  the  Desiderata,  Two  others  he  had 
designed  for  the  foundation  of  an  elaborate  discussion  of 
the  philosophy  of  Democritus,  Parmenides,  and  Telesius ; 
of  which  a  considerable  fragment  has  been  preserved. 
See  Preface  to  De  Prindpiis  atque  Originihus.  A 
year  or  two  before  his  death  he  designed  to  include 
the  whole  volume  among  the  Opera  Moralia  et  Civilia, 
of  which  he  was  then  preparing  a  collection,  and  in 
which  it  was  afterwards  published  by  Dr.  Rawley, 
along  with  the  Latin  translations  of  the  History  of 
Henry  VII.,  the  Essays,  the  New  Atlantis,  and  the 
Dialogue  of  a  Holy  War.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
therefore  that  it  was  a  work  which  he  thought  well 
of,  and  meant  to  live. 

Of  the  history  of  it  all  I  know  further  is,  that  four 
of  the  fables,  —  namely.  Metis  sive  Consilium^  Soror 
Gigantum  sive  Fama,  Coelum  sive  Origines,  and  Proteus 
sive  Materia,  —  are  found  in  the  same  form  in  the  frag- 


406 


PREFACE. 


ment  which  I  have  entitled  Cogitationes  de  Seientid 
ITumand,  and  which  I  suppose  to  have  been  written 
before  1605.  See  Preface  to  the  Philosophical  Works, 
Part  III. 

The  object  of  the  work  was  probably  to  obtain  a 
more  favourable  hearing  for  certain  philosophical  doc- 
trines of  Bacon's  own ;  for  it  seems  certain  that  the  fa- 
bles themselves  could  never  have  suggested  the  ideas, 
however  a  man  to  whom  the  ideas  had  suggested  them- 
selves might  find  or  fancy  he  found  them  in  the  fables. 
But  the  theory  on  which  his  interpretation  rests,  name- 
ly that  a  period  of  high  intellectual  cultivation  had  ex- 
isted upon  the  earth  and  passed  out  of  memory  long  be- 
fore the  days  of  Homer,  was,  I  suppose,  seriously  enter- 
tained by  him ;  nor  was  it  a  thing  so  difficult  to  believe 
then  as  it  seems  now.  When  a  new  continent  was 
first  discovered,  in  which  the  savage  inhabitants  were 
found  laden  with  golden  ornaments,  it  was  easy  to  be- 
lieve in  the  rumours  of  El  Dorado  ;  and  when  the  bur- 
ied fragments  of  Greek  and  Roman  civilisation  were 
first  brought  up  for  the  examination  of  a  new  age,  they 
might  easily  suggest  to  the  imagination  a  world  of  won- 
ders still  unrecovered.  But  when  voyage  after  voyage 
returned  from  America,  bringing  no  confirmation  of  the 
first  rumours,  they  ceased  to  be  credible ;  and  now  that 
men  have  been  employed  for  centuries  in  diligently  col- 
lecting and  discussing  the  monuments  of  antiquity,  and 
yet  no  further  evidence  of  that  period  of  primeval  wis- 
dom has  been  discovered,  the  balance  of  probability 
turns  against  the  speculation.  Comparative  philology, 
coupled  with  comparative  mythology,  teaches  us  to  seek 
for  an  explanation  of  the  ancient  mythes  in  a  new  di- 
rection ;  and  from  these  sciences  Bacon,  though  I  think 


PEEFACE.  407 

he  would  have  accepted  them  as  the  best  guides  in  the 
inquiry,  could  have  no  help ;  for  they  could  hardly  be 
said  to  exist  at  all  in  his  time.  Regarded  therefore  as 
attempts  to  explain  the  true  historical  origin  of  these  fa- 
bles, his  interpretations,  however  elegant  and  ingenious, 
may  be  set  aside,  as  having  lost  their  serious  interest  for 
us.  And  though  they  would  furnish  an  editor  possessed 
of  the  requisite  learning,  and  so  minded,  with  an  oppor- 
tunity of  displaying  a  vast  deal  of  erudition,  it  would,  I 
think,  be  wasted  in  this  place.  In  so  far  as  the  question 
could  be  settled  by  the  light  of  common  sense  with 
such  knowledge  as  Bacon  had,  little  could  be  added 
probably  on  either  side  to  what  he  has  himself  said  in 
his  prefatory  disquisition.  In  so  far  as  it  depends  upon 
the  knowledge  which  has  since  been  acquired  concern- 
ing the  ancient  languages  and  literature  of  the  East,  it 
should  be  discussed  without  reference  to  Bacon,  who 
had  no  such  knowledge,  and  would  in  all  probability,  if 
it  had  been  revealed  to  him,  have  given  up  his  own 
conjecture  as  untenable. 

The  interest  which  the  book  still  possesses  for  us 
(and  it  has  always  been  a  great  favourite  with  me)  is 
of  quite  another  kind ;  nor  has  either  change  of  times 
or  increase  of  knowledge  at  all  abated  its  freshness.  It 
is  an  interest  precisely  of  the  same  kind  with  that 
which  in  the  Essays  shows  no  symptoms  of  becoming 
obsolete.  The  interpretation  of  each  fable  is  in  fact 
an  "  essay  or  counsel,"  civil,  moral,  or  philosophical ; 
embodying  the  results  of  Bacon's  own  thought  and 
observation  upon  the  nature  of  men  and  things,  and 
replete  with  good  sense  of  the  best  quality. 

The  great  popularity  of  this  book  during  the  first 
half  of  the  seventeenth  century  may  have  been  partly 


408 


PREFACE. 


due  to  the  reputation  which  it  then  had  among  schol- 
ars as  a  work  of  learning  and  authority  ;  and  if  so, 
the  decline  of  its  popularity  may  be  accounted  for  by 
the  abatement  of  that  reputation.  Students  of  Greek 
naturally  neglect  it,  because  it  passes  no  longer  for  an 
orthodox  exposition  of  the  meaning  of  the  Greek  fa- 
bles. Students  of  nature  and  the  business  of  modern 
life  naturally  pass  it  by,  not  expecting  to  find  imder 
such  a  title  and  in  a  dead  language  the  sort  of  enter- 
tainment they  are  in  search  of.  But  I  see  no  other 
reason  why  it  should  not  be  as  great  a  favourite  with 
modern  readers  and  be  found  as  amusing  and  instruc- 
tive as  the  Essays  are ;  the  matter  being  of  as  good 
quality,  and  the  form  not  less  attractive. 

Upon  this  view  of  its  character,  and  having  a  due 
regard  to  my  own  qualifications,  I  have  thought  it  best 
to  leave  points  of  learning  to  those  who  are  more  com- 
petent to  handle  them  (for  the  most  I  could  do  in  that 
way  would  be  to  report  conclusions  which  I  am  not  in 
a  condition  to  verify),  and  content  myself  with  en- 
deavouring by  means  of  a  new  translation  to  bring  the 
book  within  reach  of  the  less  learned.  For  though 
three  English  translations  of  it  have  been  published, 
one  of  which  was  once  very  popular,  and  all  are  extant 
and  accessible,  I  do  not  find  any  of  them  much  quoted 
or  referred  to  now,  as  if  they  had  obtained  any  real 
currency  among  English  readers.  Whether  my  at- 
tempt will  fare  better,  remains  to  be  seen ;  but  if  I 
have  succeeded  in  putting  into  the  translation  so  much 
of  the  life  of  the  original,  that  those  who  are  fond 
of  the  Essays  may  read  it  with  something  of  the  same 
feeling,  I  shall  not  regret  the  pains  I  have  taken  in  the 
matter. 


PKEFACE.  409 

With  regard  to  the  enigma  which  these  ancient 
mjthes  present  us  with,  I  have  said  that  the  researches 
of  modern  science  teach  us  to  look  for  the  true  solu- 
tion of  it  in  a  direction  quite  different  from  that  w^hich 
Bacon  took.  And  without  affecting  to  offer  anything 
that  can  be  called  an  opinion  on  the  subject  for  myself, 
I  am  fortunately  able  to  illustrate  my  meaning  by  an 
example  of  a  modern  solution,  derived  from  one  whose 
information  includes  probably  everything  that  is  known 
with  reference  to  the  question  at  issue,  up  to  the  latest 
dates.  I  allude  to  Professor  Max  Miiller's  paper  on 
Comparative  Mythology  in  the  Oxford  Essays  of  1856. 

The  difficulty  to  be  explained,  as  stated  by  him,  is 
substantially  the  same  as  that  which  Bacon  puts  for- 
ward most  prominently  among  his  reasons  for  conclud- 
ing that  these  old  fables  involved  an  allegorical  meaning. 
"  Let  us  think,"  says  Professor  Miiller,  "  of  the  times 
which  could  bear  a  Lykurgos  and  a  Solon,  —  which 
could  found  an  Areopagos  and  the  Olympic  Games, 
and  how  can  we  imagine  that,  a  few  generations  before 
that  time,  the  highest  notions  of  the  Godhead  among 
the  Greeks  were  adequately  expressed  by  the  story  of 
Uranos  maimed  by  Kronos,  —  of  Kronos  eating  his 
children,  swallowing  a  stone,  and  vomiting  out  alive  his 
whole  progeny?  ....  The  difficulty  is,  how  at  first 
the  human  mind  was  led  to  such  imaginings,  —  how 
the  names  and  the  tales  arose  ;  and  unless  this  question 
can  be  answered,  our  belief  in  a  regular  and  consistent 
progress  of  the  human  intellect,  through  all  ages  and 
in  all  countries,  must  be  given  up  as  a  false  theory."  ^ 
"  A  fable  that  is  probable,"  says  Bacon,  "  may  be 
thought  to  have  been  composed  merely  for  pleasm'e,  in 

1  Essay  on  Comparative  Mythology,  pp.  8. 11. 


410 


PREFACE. 


imitation  of  history.  But  when  a  story  is  told  which' 
could  never  have  entered  into  any  man's  head  either  to 
conceive  or  relate  on  its  own  account,  we  must  pre- 
sume that  it  had  some  further  reach.  What  a  fiction 
(for  instance)  is  that  of  Jupiter  and  Metis  !  Jupiter 
took  Metis  to  wife  :  as  soon  as  he  saw  that  she  was  with 
child,  he  ate  her  up :  whereupon  he  grew  to  be  with 
child  himself,  and  so  brought  forth  out  of  his  head  Pallas 
in  armour !  Surely  I  think  no  man  had  ever  a  dream 
so  monstrous,  and  extravagant,  and  out  of  all  natural 
ways  of  thinking."  ^  Both  agree  likewise  in  conclud- 
ing that  the  original  story  must  have  involved  another 
meaning ;  that  the  names  and  incidents  must  haver  sur- 
vived after  that  meaning  had  been  forgotten  ;  and  that 
they  have  suffered  in  the  hands  of  poets  a  variety  of 
alterations,  applications,  and  corruptions.  So  far  the 
two  speculations  go  together  ;  but  at  this  point  they 
part,  and  part  in  opposite  directions.  Bacon,  having 
only  the  Greek  language  and  mythology  to  interpret 
the  Greek  fables  by,  conceived  it  possible  that  a  gener- 
ation of  wise  men  had  once  flourished  upon  the  earth, 
who  taught  the  ■  mysteries  of  nature  in  parables ;  that 
they  died  and  their  wisdom  with  them ;  the  parables 
remaining  in  memory,  merely  as  tales  without  mean- 
ing. Professor  Miiller,  furnished  with  materials  for  a 
wider  induction  in  the  languages  and  mythologies  of 
all  the  Eastern  nations  and  races,  and  finding  similai 
traditions  flourishing  among  them  all,  —  "stories  iden- 
tical in  form  and  in  character,  whether  we  find  them  on 
Indian,  Persian,  Greek,  Italian,  Slavonic,  or  Teutonic 
soil,"  —  and  being  able  likewise  to  trace  the  names 
which  figure  in  many  of  these  stories  through  their 

1  De  Sap.  Vet.  Prcefatio,  p.  429.  of  this  volume. 


PREFACE.  411 

Greek  corruptions  to  their  original  meaning  in  the  lan- 
guage from  which  they  came,  —  able,  for  instance,  by 
help  of  the  Veda  to  identify  Daphne  with  the  Dawn 
(see  p.  57)  —  is  led,  through  a  course  of  reasoning 
too  long  for  quotation  and  yet  too  close  for  abridge- 
ment, to  a  conclusion  much  more  in  accordance  with 
all  we  know  of  the  progress  and  vicissitudes  of  human 
things ;  yet  one  which,  if  accepted,  will  be  held,  I 
think,  to  justify  me  in  treating  the  ideas  which  Bacon 
finds  in  these  fables  as  valuable  only  for  the  truth  and 
sense  they  contain,  and  not  as  illustrating  antiquity. 
He  traces  the  origin  of  these  mythes  to  a  time  when 
abstract  nouns  had  not  been  invented ;  when  men  had 
not  learnt  to  express  by  single  words  collective  or  ab- 
stract ideas  ;  when  therefore  everything  was  spoken  of 
as  a  person,  with  a  name  and  a  sex.  He  conceives 
that  they  were  in  fact  merely  descriptions  of  the  great 
phenomena  of  nature ;  conveying  to  those  who  first 
uttered  them  the  ideas  of  morning  and  evening,  sum- 
mer and  winter,  dawn,  twilight,  darkness,  &c.  ;  indi- 
cating the  relations  between  them  by  words  expressing 
human  relations,  human  feelings  and  passions;  and 
thus  making  every  metaphor  a  story  ;  which,  passing 
into  another  language  in  which  the  original  name  no 
longer  suggested  the  original  image,  lost  its  metaphori- 
cal signification,  came  to  be  received  and  repeated 
as  a  story  simply,  and  so  grew  into  what  we  call  a 
myihe.  It  would  not  be  difficult  to  suggest  analogies 
even  from  our  own  experience,  by  which  it  would  be 
seen  that  the  process  is  a  natural  one ;  but  I  should 
do  injustice  to  Professor  Miiller's  argument  if  I  at- 
tempted to  give  an  idea  of  the  evidence  which  he 
brings  to  support  his  view.     I  have  said  enough,  how- 


412 


PREFACE. 


ever,  to  enable  the  reader  to  enter  into  his  exposition 
of  the  fable  of  Endymion,  which  will  sufficiently  illus- 
trate his  theory ;  and  which,  as  we  have  Bacon's 
.exposition  to  contrast  it  with,  will  serve  better  thai 
•anything  else  to  exhibit  the  difference  between  th< 
rival  methods  of  interpretation. 

"  We  can  best  enter,"  says  he,  "  into  the  original 
meaning  of  a  Greek  mythe,  when  some  of  the  persons 
who  act  in  it  have  preserved  names  intelligible  in 
Greek-  When  we  find  the  names  of  Eos,  Selene, 
Helios,  or  Herse,  we  have  words  which  tell  their  own^ 
story,  and  we  have  a  ttov  gtu  for  the  rest  of  the  mytheJ 
Let  us  take  the  beautiful  mythe  of  Selene  and  En^ 
dymion.  Endymion  is  the  son  of  Zeus  and  Kalyke,  but 
he  is  also  the  son  of  Aethlios,  a  king  of  Elis,  who  is 
himself  called  a  son  of  Zeus,  and  whom  Endymion 
said  to  have  succeeded  as  King  of  Elis.  This  localise 
our  mythe,  and  shows,  at  least,  that  Elis  is  its  birtl 
place,  and  that,  according  to  Greek  custom,  the  reigning 
race  of  Elis  derived  its  origin  from  Zeus.  The  same 
custom  prevailed  in  India,  and  gave  rise  to  the  two  great 
royal  families  of  ancient  India  —  the  so-called  Solar  and 
the  Lunar  races;  and  Pururavas,  of  whom  more  by 
and  by,  says  of  himself,  — 

The  great  king  of  day, 
And  monarch  of  the  night  are  my  progenitors ; 
Their  grandson  I  .  .  .  . 

There  may,  then,  have  been  a  King  of  Elis,  Aethlios, 
and  he  may  have  had  a  son,  Endymion ;  but  what  the 
mythe  tells  of  Endymion  could  not  have  happened  to 
the  King  of  Elis.  The  mythe  transfers  Endymion  into 
Karia,  to  Mount  Latmos,  because  it  was  in  the  Latmian 
cave  that  Selene  saw  the  beautiful  sleeper,  loved  him 


PREFACE.  413 

and  lost  him.  Now  about  the  meaning  of  Selene, 
there  can  be  no  doubt ;  but  even  if  tradition  had  only 
preserved  her  other  name,  Asterodia,  we  should  have 
had  to  translate  this  synonyme,  as  Moon,  as  'Wanderer 
among  the  stars.'  But  who  is  Endymion  ?  It  is  one 
of  the  many  names  of  the  sun,  but  with  special  refer- 
ence to  the  setting  or  dying  sun.  It  is  derived  from 
kv-dvij,  a  verb  which,  in  classical  Greek,  is  never  used 
for  setting,  because  the  simple  verb  dvw  had  become  the 
technical  term  for  sunset.  Avajial  ijllov,  the  setting  of  the 
Sun,  is  opposed  to  avarokoL,  the  rising.  Now,  (Jvw  meant, 
originally,  to  dive  into ;  and  expressions  like  vtkMq  d'  dp' 
Idv,  the  sun  dived,  presupposes  an  earlier  conception  of 
lin)  novTov,  he  dived  into  the  sea.  Thus  Thetis  addresses 
her  companions,  II.  xviii.  140. 

'Tfiec^  fj£V  vvv  dvTE  -dakaaarjc  evpea  koXttov, 

You  may  now  dive  into  the  broad  bosom  of  the  sea. 

Other  dialects,  particularly  of  maritime  nations,  have 
the  same  expression.  In  Lat.  we  find  '  Cur  mergat 
seras  aequore  flammas.'  In  Old  Norse,  '  Sol  gengr  i 
aegi.'  Slavonic  nations  represent  the  sun  as  a  woman 
stepping  into  her  bath  in  the  evening,  and  rising  re- 
freshed and  purified  in  the  morning  ;  or  they  speak 
of  the  Sea  as  the  mother  of  the  Sun,  and  of  the  Sun 
as  sinking  into  her  mother's  arms  at  night.  We  may 
suppose,  therefore,  that  in  some  Greek  dialect  £v6vu  was 
used  in  the  same  sense ;  and  that  from  hdvtj,  kvSv/xa  was 
formed  to  express  sunset.  From  this  was  formed 
evdviuuv,  like  oi'paviuv  from  ovpavog,  and  like  most  of  the 
names  of  the  Greek  months.  If  hdv^ta  had  become  a 
common  name  for  sunset,  the  mythe  of  Endymion 
could  never  have  arisen.  But  the  original  meaning 
of  Endymion   being   once   forgotten,    what  was   told 


iumis 


414 


PREFACE. 


originally  of  the  setting  sun  was  now  told  of  a  name, 
which,  in  order  to  have  any  meaning,  had  to  be 
changed  into  a  god  or  a  hero.  The  setting  sun  once 
slept  in  the  Latmian  cave,  or  cave  of  night,  —  Latmos 
being  derived  from  the  same  root  as  Leto,  Latona, 
the  night ;  —  but  now  he  sleeps  on  Mount  Latmos,  in 
Karia.  Endymion,  sinking  into  eternal  sleep  after  a 
life  of  but  one  day,  was  once  the  setting  sun,  the  son 
of  Zeus  —  the  brilliant  Sky,  and  Kalyke  —  the  cover- 
ing night  (from  KokvizTu) ;  or,  according  to  another 
saying,  of  Zeus  and  Protogeneia,  the  first-born  god- 
dess, or  the  Dawn,  who  is  always  represented,  either 
as  the  mother,  the  sister,  or  the  forsaken  wife  of  the 
Sun.  Now  he  is  the  son  of  a  King  of  Elis,  probably 
for  no  other  reason  except  that  it  was  usual  for  kings 
to  take  names  of  good  omen,  connected  with  the  sun, 
or  the  moon,  or  the  stars,  —  in  which  case  a  mythe, 
connected  with  a  solar  name,  would  naturally  be 
transferred  to  its  human  namesake.  In  the  ancient 
poetical  and  proverbial  language  of  Elis,  people  said 
'  Selene  loves  and  watches  Endymion,'  instead  of  '  it 
is  getting  late ; '  '  Selene  embraces  Endymion,'  in- 
stead of  '  the  sun  is  setting  and  the  moon  is  rising ; ' 
'  Selene  kisses  Endymion  into  sleep,'  instead  of  '  it  is 
night.'  These  expressions  remained  long  after  their 
meaning  had  ceased  to  be  understood ;  and  as  the 
human  mind  is  generally  as  anxious  for  a  reason  as 
ready  to  invent  one,  a  story  arose  by  common  con- 
sent, and  without  any  personal  effort,  that  Endymion 
must  have  been  a  young  lad  loved  by  a  young  lady, 
Selene ;  and  if  children  were  anxious  to  know  still 
more,  there  would  always  be  a  grandmother  happy 
to  tell  them  that  this  young  Endymion  was  the  son 


PREFACE.  415 

of  the  Protogenela,  —  she  half  meaning  and  half  not 
meaning  by  that  name  the  Dawn,  who  gave  birth  to 
the  sun ;  or  of  Kalyke,  the  dark  and  covering  night. 
This  name,  once  touched,  would  set  many  chords 
vibrating ;  three  or  four  different  reasons  might  be 
given  (as  they  really  were  given  by  ancient  poets) 
why  Endymion  fell  into  this  everlasting  sleep,  and 
if  any  of  these  was  alluded  to  by  a  popular  poet,  it 
became  a  mythological  fact,  repeated  by  later  poets  ; 
so  that  Endymion  grew  at  last  almost  into  a  type,  no 
longer  of  the  setting  sun,  but  of  a  handsome  boy  be- 
loved of  a  chaste  maiden,  and  therefore  a  most  likely 
name  for  a  young  prince.  Many  mythes  have  thus 
been  transferred  to  real  persons,  by  a  mere  similar- 
ity of  name,  though  it  must  be  admitted  that  there 
is  no  historical  evidence  whatsoever  that  there  ever 
was  a  Prince  of  Elis,  called  by  the  name  of  Endym- 
ion. 

"  Such  is  the  growth  of  a  legend,  originally  a  mere 
word,  a  (iv^og,  probably  one  of  those  many  words  which 
have  but  a  local  currency,  and  lose  their  value  if  they 
are  taken  to  distant  places,  —  words  useless  for  the 
daily  intercourse  of  thought,  —  spurious  coins  in  the 
hands  of  the  many,  —  yet  not  thrown  away,  but  pre- 
served as  curiosities  and  ornaments,  and  deciphered 
at  last,  after  many  centuries,  by  the  antiquarian."  ^ 

I  give  this  specimen  merely  to  explain  and  illustrate 
the  modern  theory.  For  the  argument  in  support  of 
it  I  must  refer  to  the  Essay  itself;  though  even  there 
it  suffers  much  for  want  of  room.  But  that  the  pro- 
cess described  is  possible  and  natural,  may  be  shown 

1  Oxford  Essays,  1856,  p.  49. 


416 


PREFACE. 


meanwhile   without  going   out   of  our  own  literati 
or  our  own  times. 

The  poetry  of  earth  is  never  dead : 

and  even  within  the  last  ten  years  an  instance  has' 
occurred  of  the  simple  language  of  poetic  passion  be- 
ing translated  out  of  poetry  into  mythology.  Alfred, 
Tennyson  speaks  in  In  Memoriam  of  returning  home] 
in  the  evening 

Before  the  crimson-circled  star 
Had  fallen  into  her  father's  grave: 

not  thinking  at  all  of  any  traditional  pedigree,  (nO' 
more  than  when  he  speaks  of 

Sad  Hesper,  o'er  the  buried  Sun, 
And  ready  thou  to  die  with  him,) 

but  expressing,  by  such  an  image  as  the  ancient  Elian! 
might  have  resorted  to,  his  sympathy  with  the  pa- 
thetic aspect  of  the  dying  day.  Critics  however  asked 
for  explanations :  what  star,  whose  daughter,  what 
grave  ?  And  it  turns  out  curiously  enough  that  all 
these  questions  can  be  answered  out  of  Greek  mythol- 
ogy quite  satisfactorily.  "  The  planet  Venus  (says  a 
Belgravian  correspondent  of  Notes  and  Queries^  1851, 
iii.  506),  when  she  is  to  the  east  of  the  sun,  is  our 
evening  star  (and  as  such  used  to  be  termed  Hesperus 
by  the  ancients).  The  evening  star  in  a  summer 
twilight  is  seen  surrounded  with   the  glow  of  sunset, 

crimson-circled Venus    sinking   into   the   sea, 

which  in  setting  she  would  appear  to  do,  falls  into  the 
grave  of  Uranus^  —  her  father  according  to  the  theory 
of  Hesiod  (190).  The  part  cast  into  the  sea  from 
which  Aphrodite  sprung,  is  here  taken  by  a  becoming 
licence  (which  softens  the  grossness  of  the   old  tradi- 


PREFACE.  417 

tion)  for  the  whole ;  so  that  the  ocean,  beneath  the 
horizon  of  which  the  evening  star  sinks,  may  be  well 
described  by  the  poet  as  '  her  father's  grave.'  " 

I  would  not  indeed  have  any  one  remember  this 
explanation  when  he  is  reading  the  poem,  for  it  is 
fatal  to  the  poetic  effect ;  but  the  coincidence  of  the 
expression  with  the  mythic  tradition  is  curious  ;  and 
might  almost  make  one  think  that  Tennyson,  while 
merely  following  the  eternal  and  universal  instincts 
of  the  human  imagination  and  feeling,  had  uncon- 
sciously reproduced  the  very  image  out  of  which  the 
tradition  originally  grew. 

In  Dr.  Rawley's  list  of  works  composed  by  Bacon 
during  the  last  five  years  of  his  life,  he  mentions  "  his 
revising  of  his  book  De  Sapientia  Veterum.^^  And  as 
he  professes  to  give  them  in  the  order  in  which  they 
were  written,  and  this  comes  near  the  end,  I  suppose 
he  does  not  allude  merely  to  the  three  fables  intro- 
duced into  the  second  book  of  the  De  Augmentis., 
which  was  published  in  1623  ;  but  to  some  further 
revision  of  the  whole  previous  to  the  reprinting  of  the 
work  among  the  Opera  Moralia  et  Civilia.  I  have 
therefore  treated  that  posthumous  edition  (which  va- 
ries in  a  few,  though  very  few,  passages  from  the 
original  of  1609),  as  the  latest  authority  for  the  text. 
But  as  it  is  not  so  carefully  printed  as  the  other,  I 
have  collated  the  two  throughout,  and  noticed  the 
variations.  I  have  also  kept  the  title-page  of  the 
original  edition ;  and  I  have  followed  modern  editors 
in  making  the  interpretation  of  each  fable  commence 
a  new  paragraph. 

VOL.  XII.  27 


FEANCISCI    BACONI 

EQUITIS  AURATI, 

PROCURATORIS  SECUKDI  JACOBI  REGIS  MAGN^  BRITANIH^, 

DE    SAPIENTIA  VETERUM 

LIBER, 

AD    INCLYTAM   ACADEMIAM    CANTABRIGIENSEM. 


LONDINI, 


Excudebat  Robeetus  Bakerus,  Serenissimse  Regiae  Majestatis 
Typographus. 

ANNO    1609. 


ILLUSTRISSIMO  VIRO 

COMITI    SARISBURIENSI, 

SUMMO   THE8AURARI0   ANGLIC,   ET   CANCELLARIO  ACADEMIC 
CANTAB  RIGIENSIS. 


Qu^  Academiae  Cantabrigiensi  dicantur,  tibi  jure 
Cancellarii  accrescunt :  quae  autem  a  me  proficisci  pos- 
sunt  omnia,  tibi  nomine  proprio  debentur.  Illiid  magis 
videndum,  num  ista,  ut  tibi  debita,  ita  etiam  te  digna 
sint.  Atque  quod  in  illis  minimum  est  (ingenium  au- 
thoris)  id,  propter  tuum  propensum  in  me  animum, 
nihil  officiet;  caetera  dedecori  non  erunt.  Nam  si  tem- 
pus  spectetur ;  antiquitas  primseva  summam  venera- 
tionem  habet :  Si  docendi  forma  ;  Parabola  veluti  area 
qusedam  est,  in  qua  pretiosissima  quseque  scientiarum 
reponi  consueverunt :  Si  operis  materia ;  ea  philoso- 
phia  est,  vitaB  scilicet  atque  animae  humanse  decus  se- 
cundum. Fas  sit  enim  dixisse,  quamvis  philosophia, 
seculo  nostro  veluti  per  senium  repuerascens,  adoles- 
centibus  et  fere  pueris  relinquatur ;  eam  tamen  om- 
nium rerum,  post  religionem,  gravissimam  atque  natura 
humana  maxime  dignam  esse  plane  censeo.  Etiam 
politica,  in  qua  te  mirabilem  praebes,  et  facultate  et 


meritis  et  sapientissimi  regis  judicio,  ab  eodem  fonte 
emanat,  ejusque  pars  magna  est.  Quod  si  cui  ista  quae 
affero  vulgata  esse  videantur ;  certe  quid  effecerim, 
judicium  meum  non  est ;  id  tamen  secutus  sum,  ut 
manifesta,  et  obsoleta,  et  locos  communes  praetervectus, 
aliquid  etiam  ad  vitaB  ardua  et  scientiarum  arcana  con- 
feram.  Erunt  itaque  captui  vulgari  vulgaria :  altiorem 
autem  intellectum  fortasse  non  deserent,  sed  potius  (ut 
spero)  deducent.  Verum  dum  huic  open  dignitatei 
nonnullam  adstruere  conor,  quod  ad  te  dicatum  sit ;' 
periculum  est,  ne  modestiae  fines  transeam,  cum  a  me 
sit  susceptum.  Tu  vero  illud  tanquam  pignus  afiectus 
erga  te  mei,  et  observantiae,  et  animi  maxime  devoti 
accipies,  eique  praesidium  nominis  tui  imperties.  Quare 
cum  tot  et  tanta  sustineas,  tempora  tua  diutius  non 
morabor ;  sed  finem  faciam,  tibi  felicia  omnia  compre- 
catus,  et  perpetuo  futurus 

Tibi^  et  studio  suo^  et  heneficiis  tuts  devinctissimi 

FRA.  BACONUS. 


ALM^  MATRI, 

INCLYTiE  ACADEMIiE  CANTABRIGIENSI. 


Cum  sine  philosophia  me  certe  nee  vivere  juvet, 
merito  vos  in  magno  honore  habeo,  a  quibus  mihi  ista 
vitae  prsesidia  et  solatia  fluxerint.  Itaque  hoc  nomine 
et  me  et  mea  vobis  debere  profiteer,  quo  minus  mirum 
sit,  si  vos  vestris  remunerem  ;  ut  motu  naturali  redeant 
a  quo  traxerint  originem.  Et  tamen,  nescio  quomodo, 
rara  videntur  vestigia  vos  retrorsum  spectantia;  cum  in- 
finita  a  vobis  profecta  sint.  Nee  nimium  mihi  sumam 
(ut  opinor),  si  sperem,  propter  rerum  usum  medio- 
crem,  quod  nostrum  vitae  genus  et  institutum  necessario 
traxit,  nonnullam  ad  hominum  doctorum  inventa,  per 
haec  nostra,  factam  esse  accessionem.  Equidem  in  ea 
opinion e  sum,  contemplationes,  in  vitam  activam  trans- 
latas,  nonnihil  novi  decoris  et  vigoris  acquirere ;  et 
suppetente  uberiore  materia,  et^  magis  altas  fortasse 
radices  agere,  aut  certe  magis  proceras  et  fi'ondosas 
evadere.  Neque  vos  (ut  arbitror)  ipsi  nostis,  quam 
late    pateant   vestra,    quamque   ad   multa    pertineant. 

1  So  in  both  editions.    But  I  think  the  second  et  should  have  been  struck 
out. 


424 


ALM^  MATRI,  ETC. 


-^quum  est  tamen  omnia  vobis  attribui,  atque  in  ves-1 
trum  honorem  cedere,  cum  accessiones  quaeque  prin- 
cipiis   magna   ex   parte    debeantur.       Neque   vero 
homine  occupato  aliquid  exquisitum,  aut  otii  miraculaj 
et  praerogativas  requiretis  ;  sed  et  hoc  amori  meo  sum- 
mo  erga  vos  et  vestra  tribuetis,  quod  intra  rerum  civil- 
ium  spinas  haec  non  prorsus  perierint,  sed  vobis  vestraj 
servata  sint.     Valete. 

Alumnus  vester  amantissimus, 

FRA.  BACONUS. 


INDEX  FABULARUM  PRISC^  SOPHIA 

HOC  LIBRO  CONTENTARUM. 


1.  Cassandra,  sive  Parrhesia. 

2.  Typhon,  sive  Rebellis. 

3.  Cyclopes,  sive  Ministri  ter- 

roris. 

4.  Narcissus,  sive  Philautia. 

5.  Styx,  sive  Foedera. 

6.  Pan,  sive  Natura. 

7.  Perseus,  sive  Bellum. 

8.  Endymion,  sive  Gratiosus. 

9.  SoROR     Gigantum,     sive 

Fama. 

10.  ACTiEON      ET      PeNTHEUS, 

sive   Curiosus. 

11.  Orpheus,  sive  Philosophia. 

12.  Ccelum,  sive  Origines. 

13.  Proteus,  sive  Materia. 

14.  Memnon,  sive  Praematurus. 
16.  TiTHONUS,  sive  Satias. 

16.  Procus  Junoni^  sive  Ded- 


17. 
18, 
19. 

20. 

21. 
22. 
23. 
24. 
25. 
26. 

27. 


CupiDO,  sive  Atomus. 
Diomedes,  sive  Zelus. 
Djedalus,    sive    Mecliani- 

cus. 
Ericthonius,  sive   Impos- 

tura. 
Deucalion,  sive  Restitutio. 
Nemesis,  sive  Vices  Rerum. 
AcHELOUS,  sive  PraBlium. 
Dionysus,  sive  Cupiditas. 
Atalanta,  sive  Lucrum. 
Prometheus,   sive    Status 

Hominis. 
Icarus  Volans,  item  Scyl- 

LA  ET  Charybdis,  sive 

Via  Media. 
Sphynx,  sive  Scientia. 
Proserpina,  sive  Spiritus. 
Metis,  sive  Consilium. 
SiRENES,  sive  Voluptas. 


PK^FATIO. 


Antiquitatem  prlmaevam  (exceptis  quae  in  sacris 
Uteris  habemus)  oblivio  et  silentium  involvit :  silentia 
antiquitatis  fabulae  poetarum  exceperunt:  fabulis  tan- 
dem successere  scripta  quae  habemus  ;  adeo  ut  antiqui- 
tatis penetralia  et  recessus  a  sequentium  saeculorum  me- 
moria  et  evidentia,  tanquam  velo  fabularum,  discreta  et 
separata  sint ;  quod  se  interposuit  et  objecit  medium, 
inter  ea  quae  perierunt,  et  ea  quae  extant.  Equidem 
existimo  plerosque  in  ea  opinione  fore,  me  delicias  ac 
ludos  facere  ;  atque  similem  fere  licentiam  in  transferen- 
dis  fabulis  usurpare,  ac  ipsi  poetae  sibi  sumpserint  in 
fingendis ;  quod  pro  meo  jure  sane  facere  possem,  ut 
contemplationibus  magis  arduis  haec  ad  voluptatem,  sive 
meditationis  propriae  sive  lectionis  alienae,  aspergerem. 
Neque  me  latet  quam  versatilis  materia  sit  fabula,  ut 
hue  illuc  trahi,  imo  et  duci  possit ;  quantumque  ingenii 
commoditas  et  discursus  valeat,  ut  quae  nunquam  cogi- 
tata  sint  belle  tamen  attribuantur.  Etiam  ilia  cogitatio 
animum  subit,  usum  hujusce  rei  jampridem  contamina- 
tum  esse :  multi  enim,  ut  inventis  et  placitis  suis  anti- 
quitatis venerationem  acquirerent,  poetarum  fabulas  ad 
ea  traducere  conati  sunt.  Atque  vetus  ilia  vanitas  et 
frequens,  nee  nuper  nata,  aut  raro  usurpata  est.  Nam 
et  olim   Chrysippus   Stoicorum  opiniones  vetustissimis 


428 


PR^FATIO. 


poetis,  veluti  somniorum  allquis  interpres,  ascribere" 
solebat ;  et  magis  insulse  Chymici  ludos  et  delicias  po- 
etarum  in  corporum  transformationibus  ad  fornacis  ex- 
perimenta  transtulerunt.  Hsec  (inquam)  cuncta  nobis 
satis  et  explorata  et  expensa  sunt ;  omnemque  ingenio- 
rum  circa  allegorias  levitatem  et  indulgentiam  perspexi- 
nAis  et  notaAdmus,  neque  propterea  omnino  de  senten- 
tia  decedimus.  Primo  enim,  absit  ut  paucorum  inep- 
tisB  et  licentia  parabolarum  honori  in  genere  detrahant. 
Hoc  enim  prophanum  quiddam  sonat  et  audax,  cum 
hujusmodi  velis  et  umbris  religio  gaudeat,  ut  qui  eas 
tollat  commercia  divinorum  et  humanorum  fere  inter- 
dicat.  Verum  de  humana  sapientia  videamus.  Fa- 
teor  certe  ingenue  et  libenter,  me  in  banc  sententiam 
propendere,  ut  non  paucis  antiquorum  poetarum  fabu- 
lis  mysterium  et  allegoriam  jam  ab  origine  subesse  pu- 
tem  ;  sive  captus  veneratione  prisci  saeculi,  sive  quod  in 
nonnullis  fabulis  reperio  tantam  et  tam  evidentem  cum 
significato  similitudinem  et  conjunctionem,  tum  in  tex- 
tura  ipsa  fabulae,  tum  in  proprietate  nominum  quibus 
personae  sive  actores  fabulae  insigniti  et  veluti  inscripti 
prodeunt ;  ut  sensum  ilium  ab  initio  praeceptum  et  cog- 
itatum  fuisse,  et  de  industria  adumbratum,  nemo  con- 
stanter  negaverit.  Quis  enim  ita  durus  est  et  ad  aperta 
csecutiens,  ut  cum  audiat  Famam,  Gigantibus  exstinctis, 
tanquam  sororem  posthumam  progenitam  esse,  non  illud 
ad  murmura  partium  et  famas  seditiosas,  quae  sopitis  re- 
bellionibus  ad  tempus  vagari  solent,  referat  ?  Aut  cum 
audiat  Typhonem  gigantem  nervos  Jovis  secuisse  et 
abstulisse,  ac  Mercurium  eos  suffiiratum  esse,  et  Jovi 
reddidisse,  non  statim  advertat  hoc  ad  rebelliones 
praevalidas  pertinere,  quae  regibus  nervos  et  pecuniarum 
et  authoritatis   incidunt,  ita  tamen  ut  per  sermonum 


PE^FATIO.  429 

comitatem  et  prudentia  edicta  animi  subditorum  non 
ita  multo  post  quasi  furtim  reconcilientur,  et  vires  regi- 
bus  restituantur  ?     Aut  cum  audiat,  in  ilia  memorabili 
Deorum  contra  gigantes  expeditione,  asinum  Sileni  cum 
ruderet  maximi  momenti  ad  profligandos  gigantes  fuisse ; 
non  liquido  cogitet  hoc  de  vastis  rebellium  conatibus, 
qui  plerumque  per  inanes  rumores  et  terrores  vanos  dis- 
sipantur,   confictum  fuisse?     Etiam  nominum  confor- 
mitas  et  indicium  cui  tandem  hominum  obscurimi  esse 
potest  ?  cum  Metis  uxor  Jovis  plane  consilium  sonet ; 
Typhon  tumorem ;  Pan  universum ;   Nemesis  vindic- 
tam:    et  similia.     Neque  illud  quenquam   moveat,   si 
aliquid  interdum  historiae  subsit,  aut  si  nonnuUa  orna- 
menti  gratia  addita  sint,  aut  si  tempora  confundantur, 
aut  si  ex  una  fabula  quippiam  transferatur  in  aliam,  et 
nova  allegoria  inducatur.     Necesse  enim  fait  haec  fieri, 
cum  inventa  virorum  fiierint  qui  et  aetate  disjuncti  et 
instituto  diversi  erant ;  cum  alii  antiquiores,  alii  recen- 
tiores  fuerint,  alii  rursus  naturam  rerum,  alii  res  civiles 
sibi  proponerent.     Habemus  etiam  et  aliud  sensus  oc- 
culti  et  involuti  signum  non  parvum,  quod  nonnullae  ex 
fabulis  tam  absurdae  narratione  ipsa  et  insulsse  inveni- 
antur,  ut  parabolam  etiam  ex  longinquo  ostentent,  et 
veluti  clament.     Quae  enim  probabilis  est  fabula,  etiam 
ad  voluptatem  et  historiae  similitudinem  conficta  existi- 
mari  potest ;  quod  autem  nulli  in  mentem  venisset  cog- 
itare  aut  narrare,  id  in  alios  usus  quaesitum  videtur. 
Quale  enim  figmentum  illud  ?  Jovem  Metin  in  lixorem 
accepisse,  eamque  statim  ut  gravidam  sensisset  come- 
disse,  unde  ipse  gravidus  fieri  coepit,  et  Palladem  arma- 
tam  ex  capite  peperit  ?     Equidem  existimo  nulli  morta- 
lium  obvenire  vel  somnium  tam  extra  cogitationis  vias 
situm   et  monstrosum.      Ante  omnia  illud   apud   nos 


430 


PR^FATIO. 


maxime  valuit,  et  plurimum  ponderis  habuit,  quod  ex 
fabulis  complures  nullo  modo  nobis  videntur  ab  eis  in- 
ventse,  a  quibus  recitantur  et  celebrantur,  Homero, 
Hesiodo,  reliquis ;  si  enim  liquido  nobis  constitisset  eas 
ab  ilia  aetate  atque  illis  authoribus  manasse  a  quibus 
commemorantur  et  ad  nos  devenerunt,  nil  magni  certe 
aut  excelsi  ab  hujusmodi  origine  nobis  (ut  nostra  fert 
conjectura)  expectare  aut  suspicari  in  mentem  venisset. 
Verum  si  quis  attentius  rem  consideret,  apparebit  illas 
tradi  et  referri  tanquam  prius  creditas  et  receptas,  non 
tanquam  turn  primo  excogitatas  et  oblatas.  Quineti- 
am  cum  diversis  modis  a  scriptoribus  fere  coaevis  refe- 
rantur,  facile  cernas,  quod  commune  habent,  ex  veteri 
memoria  desumptum ;  in  quo  variant,  ^  ex  singulorum 
ornatu  additum.  Atque  haec  res  existimationem  earum 
apud  nos  auxit,  ac  si  nee  setatis  nee  inventionis  poeta- 
rum  ipsorum  essent ;  sed  veluti  reliquise  sacrae  et  aurae 
tenues  temporum  meliorum ;  quae  ex  traditionibus  na- 
tionum  magis  antiquarum  in  Graecorum  tubas  et  fistulas 
incidissent.  Quod  si  quis  obstinato  animo  contendat, 
allegoriam  in  fabula  semper  subdititiam  et  impositam, 
nee  omnino  nativam  et  genuinam  fuisse  ;  ei  molesti  non 
erimus,  sed  gravitatem  illam  judicii  quam  affectat,  licet 
hebetiorem  et  fere  plumbeam,  remittemus  ;  atque  illuni 
(si  modo  dignus  sit)  alio  modo  tanquam  de  integro  ado- 
riemur.  Duplex  apud  homines  repertus  est  atque  in- 
crebuit  parabolarum  usus,  atque,  quod  magis  mirum  sit, 
ad  contraria  valet.^  Faciunt  enim  parabolas  ad  involu- 
crum  et  velum  ;  faciunt  etiam  ad  lumen  et  illustratio- 
nem.  Atque  misso  illo  usu  priore  (potius  quam  lites 
suscipiamus),  et  receptis  fabulis  antiquis,  tanquam  rebus 
vagis  et   ad   delectationem   compositis ;  manet   tamen 

1  quod  varium.    Ed.  1609.  2  adhibeiur.    Ed.  1609. 


PRiEFATIO.  431 

proculdubio  posterior  iste  usus,  neque  ulla  ingenii  vio- 
lentia  nobis  extorqueri  possit,  neque  impediet  quisquam 
(qui  sit  mediocriter  doctus)  quin  protinus  recipiatur 
modus  iste  docendi,^  tanquam  res  gravis  et  sobria,  atque 
omnis  vanitatis  expers,  et  scientiis  apprime  utilis,  imo 
et  quandoque  ^  necessaria ;  nimirum  ut  in  inventis  no  vis 
et  ab  opinionibus  vulgaribus  remotis  et  penitus  abstru- 
sis,  aditus  ad  intellectum  humanum  magis  facilis  et  be- 
nignus  per  parabolas  quaeratur.  Itaque  antiquis  saecu- 
lis,  cum  rationis  humanae  inventa  et  conclusiones,  etiam 
eae  quae  nunc  tritae  et  vulgatag  sunt,  tunc  temporis 
novaB  et  insuetae  essent,  omnia  fabularum  omnigenum, 
et  asnigmatum,  et  parabolarum,  et  similitudinum  plena 
erant :  atque  per  haec  docendi  ratio,  non  occultandi 
artificium,  quaesitum  est ;  rudibus  scilicet  tunc  temporis 
hominum  ingeniis,  et  subtilitatis,  nisi  quae  sub  sensum 
cadebat,  impatientibus  et  fere  incapacibus.  Nam  ut 
hieroglyphica  Uteris,  ita  parabolae  argumentis  erant  an- 
tiquiores.  Atque  etiam  nunc,  si  quis  novam  in  aliqui- 
bus  lucem  humanis  mentibus  afFundere  velit,  idque  non 
incommode  et  aspere,  prorsus  eadem  via  insistendum 
est,  et  ad  similitudinum  auxilia  confugiendum.  Quare 
quae  dicta  sunt  ita  claudemus.  Sapientia  prisci  saeculi, 
aut  magna  aut  felix  fuit :  magna,  si  de  industria  excog- 
itata  est  figura  sive  tropus :  felix,  si  homines  aliud 
agentes  materiam  et  occasionem  tantae  contemplatio- 
num  dignitati  praebuere.  Operam  autem  nostram  (si 
quid  in  ea  sit  quod  juvet)  in  neutra  re  male  collocatam 
censebimus.  Aut  enim  antiquitatem  illustrabimus,  aut 
res  ipsas.     Neque  nescius  esse  possum  ^  banc  rem  ab 

1  The  words  modus  iste  docendi  are  omitted  in  Ed.  1609. 

'■^  atque  adeo.    Ed.  1609. 

3  neque  possum  ignorare.    Ed.  1609. 


432 


PR^FATIO. 


aliis  tentatam  esse:  sed  tamen,  ut  quod  sentiam  elo- 
quar,  idque  non  fastidiose,  sed  libere,  ejus^  decus  et 
virtus  ex  hujusmodi  laboribus,  licet  magnis  et  operosis, 
fere  periit ;  dum  homines,  rerum  imperiti  et  non  ultra 
locos  certos  communes  docti,  parabolarum  sensus  ad 
vulgaria  quaedam  et  generalia  applicaverunt,  atque  ea- 
rundem  vim  veram,  et  proprietatem  genuinam,  ac  inda- 
gationem  altiorem,  non  attigerunt.  Nos  autem  erimus 
(ni  fallimur)  in  rebus  vulgatis  novi,  et  aperta  et  plana 
a  tergo  relinquentes,  ad  ulteriora  et  nobiliora  tende- 
mus. 

1  rei.    Ed.  1609. 


DE  SAPIENTIA  YETERUM. 


CASSANDRA, 

SIVE     PARRHESIA. 

Narrant  Cassandram  ab  Apolline  adamatam  fiiisse, 
atque  variis  artificiis  ejus  desideria  elusisse,  spes  nihi- 
lominus  fovisse,  quousque  donum  divinationis  ab  eo 
extorsisset ;  turn  vero,  nactam  quod  ab  initio  dissimula- 
tione  sua  quaesivisset,  preces  ejus  aperte  rejecisse ;  ilium, 
cum  quod  temere  largitus  erat  nullo  modo  revocare  pos- 
set, et  tamen  vindicta  arderet,  nee  foeminae  callidaB 
ludibrio  esse  vellet,  muneri  suo  poenam  addidisse  ;  ut 
ilia  quidem  vera  semper  praediceret,  sed  nemo  ei  crede- 
ret :  itaque  vaticiniis  ejus  Veritas  affiiit ;  ^  fides  defuit : 
quod  ilia  perpetuo  experta  est  etiam  in  excidio  patrias 
suae,  de  qua  saepius  monuerat,  nemine  auscultante  aut 
credente. 

Fabula  de  intempestiva  et  inutili  libertate  consiliorum 
et  monitorum  conficta  videtur :  qui  enim  ingenio  sunt 
pervicaci  et  aspero,  nee  se  Apollini,  id  est,  Deo  Har- 
moniae,  submittere  volunt,  ut  rerum  modos  et  mensuras, 
sermonumque   veluti  tonos   acutos  et   graves,  aurium 

1  mansit.    Ed.  1609. 
VOL.  XII.  28 


434  DE  SAPIENTIA  VETERUM. 

etiam  magis  peritanim  et  magis  vulgarium  differentias, 
tempora  denique  turn  loquendi  turn  silendi,  ediscant  et 
observent ;  licet  sint  prudentes  et  liberi,  et  consilia 
afFerant  sana  et  bona,  nunquam  tamen  fere  suasu  et 
impetu  suo  proficiunt,  neque  ad  res  tractandas  efficaces 
sunt ;  sed  potius  exitium  eis  apud  quos  se  ingerunt  ma- 
turant,  et  turn  demum  post  calamitatem  et  eventum,  ut 
vates  et  in  longum  prospicientes  celebrantur.  Atque 
hujus  rei  exemplum  eminet  in  M.  Catone  Uticensi. 
Ille  enim  interitum  patrias,  et  tyrannidem  primo  ex 
conspiratione  deinde  ex  contentione  Caesaris  cum  Pora- 
peio  secutam,  diu  ante  tanquam  e  specula  praevidit,  et 
tanquam  ex  oraculo  prsedixit :  sed  nil  profecit  interim, 
verum  obfuit  potius,  et  mala  patriae  acceleravit.  Id 
quod  prudenter  advertit,  et  eleganter  describit  M.  Cic- 
ero, cum  ad  amicum  ita  scribat :  Cato  optime  sentit,  sed 
nocet  interdum  reipuhlicce  :  loquitur  enim  tanquam  in 
republica  Platonis,  non  tanquamin  foece  Romuli. 


11. 

TYPHON, 

SIVE     REBELLIS. 

Narrant  poetas  Junonem,  indignatam  quod  Jupiter 
Palladem  ex  sese  sine  ea  peperisset,  omnes  deos  atque 
deas  precibus  fatigasse,  ut  ipsa  etiam  sine  Jove  partum 
ederet.  Et  postquam  violentiae  et  importunitati  ejus 
annuissent,  terram  ilia  concussit,  ex  quo  motu  Typhon 
natus  est,  monstrum  ingens  et  horrendum.  Ille  ser- 
penti  veluti  nutritio  datus  est,  ut  ab  eo  aleretur.  Nee 
mora,  postquam  adolevisset,  quin  bellum  Jovi  moveret. 


DE  SAPIENTIA  VETERUM.  435 

In  eo  conflictu  Jupiter  in  potestatem  gigantis  venit, 
qui  ilium  in  humeros  sublatum  in  regionem  remotam  et 
obscuram  transportavit,  et  concisis  nervis  et  manuum 
et  pedum,  et  secum  abreptis,  mancum  et  mutilatum 
reliquit.  Mercurius  aatem  nervos  Jo  vis  Typhoni  suffu- 
ratus  est,  atque  eos  Jovi  restituit.  Jupiter  confirmatus, 
belluam  rursus  impetiit ;  ac  primum  fulmine  vulneravit, 
ex  cujus  sanguine  sei*pentes  nati  sunt.  Turn  demum 
ruentem  et  fugientem  (^tnam  super  eum  jaculatus) 
mole  montis  oppressit. 

Fabula  de  fortuna  regum  varia  et  rebellionibus  quae 
in  monarchiis  quandoque  evenire  consueverunt  conficta 
est.  Reges  enim  regnis  suis,  ut  Jupiter  Junoni,  veluti 
matrimonii  vinculo  juncti  recte  censentur  :  sed  accidit 
nonnunquam  ut  imperandi  consuetudine  depravati  et  in 
tyrannidem  vergentes,  omnia  ad  se  trahant,  et  con- 
tempto  ordinum  et  senatus  sui  consensu,  ex  sese  pari- 
ant :  id  est,  ex  arbitrio  proprio  et  imperio  mero  cuncta 
administrent.  Id  populi  aegre  ferentes,  et  ipsi  moliun- 
tur  caput  aliquod  rerum  ex  sese  creare  et  extollere. 
Ea  res  ex  occulta  sollicitatione  nobilium  et  procerum 
fere  initia  sumit,  quibus  conniventibus,  tum  populi  sus- 
citatio  tentatur ;  ex  qua  tumor  quidam  rerum  (per 
Typhonis  infantiam  significatus)  sequitur.  Atque  iste 
rerum  status  ab  insita  plebis  pravitate  et  natura  malig- 
na (serpente  regibus  infestissimo)  nutricatur.  Defec- 
tione  autem  viribus  coalita,  postremo  res  in  apertam 
rebellionem  erumpit ;  quae,  quia  infinita  mala  et  regi- 
bus et  populis  infligit,  sub  dira  ilia  Typhonis  effigie  rep- 
raesentatur,  in  qua  centum  capita  ob  divisas  potestates, 
ora  flammantia  ob  incendia,  anguium  cingula  ob  pesti- 
lentias  (prassertim  in  obsidionibus),  manus  ferreae  ob 
caedes,  ungues  aquilini  ob  rapinas,  corpus  plumis  con- 


436 


DE  SAPIENTIA  VETERUM. 


tectum  ob  perpetuos  rumores  et  nuncios  et  trepida- 
tiones,  et  hujusmodi.  Atque  interdum  rebelliones  istaa 
tam  praevalidse  sunt,  ut  reges  cogantur,  tanquam  a  re- 
bellibus  transportati,  relictis  regni  sedibus  et  urbibus 
primariis,  vires  contrahere,  et  in  remotam  aliquam  et 
obscuram  provinciam  ditionis  suae  se  recipere,  nervis  et 
pecuniarum  et  majestatis  accisis :  sed  tamen  non  ita 
multo  post,  fortunam  prudenter  tolerantes,  virtute  et 
industria  Mercurii  nervos  recipiunt ;  hoc  est,  afFabiles 
facti,  et  per  edicta  prudentia  et  sermones  benignos  rec- 
onciliatis  subditorum  animis  et  voluntatibus,  tandem 
alacritatem  ad  impensas  conferendas,  et  novum  auctor- 
itatis  vigorem  excitant.  Nihilominus,  prudentes  et 
cauti,  aleam  fortunae  tentare  plerunque  nolunt,  et  a 
pugna  abstinent,  sed  tamen  operam  dant  ut  aliquo  fa- 
cinore  memorabili  existimationem  rebellium  frangant. 
Quod  si  ex  voto  succedat,  illi,  vulneris  accepti  conscii, 
et  rerum  suarum  trepidi,  primo  ad  fractas  et  inanes 
minas,  veluti  serpentum  sibilos,  se  vertunt.  Deinde, 
rebus  desperatis,  fugam  capessunt.  Atque  turn  de- 
mum,  postquam  mere  incipiant,  tutum  est  et  tempesti- 
vum  regibus,  copiis  et  universa  mole  regni,  tanquam 
^tnae  monte,  eos  persequi  et  opprimere. 


III. 

CYCLOPES, 

SIVE     MINISTRI      TERRORIS. 

Narrant  Cyclopes  ob  feritatem  et  immanitatem 
primo  a  Jove  in  Tartarum  detrusos,  et  perpetuo  car- 
ceri  adjudicatos  fiiisse  :  verum  postea  Tellus  Jovi  per- 


DE   SAPIENTIA   VETERUM.  437 

suasit,  ei  non  abs  re  fore,  si  eos  vinclis  liberaret,  et 
eorum  opera  ad  fulmina  fabricanda  uteretur.  Quod  et 
factum  est,  atque  illi  officios!  et  industrii  fulmina  atque 
alia  terroris  iustrumenta  assiduo  opere  et  minaci  strep- 
itu  fecerunt.  Tempore  autem  labente  evenit  ut  Jupiter 
-^sculapio  Apollinis  filio  succenseret,  ob  hominem  med- 
icina  a  morte  excitatum ;  iram  autem  tegens  (quia 
parum  justa  indignandi  causa  suberat  ob  facinus  pium 
et  celebre)  Cyclopes  in  eum  secreto  instigavit,  qui 
nihil  cunctati  fulmine  eum  interemere :  in  cujus  rei 
vindictam,  Apollo  Jove  non  prohibente  sagittis  eos 
confecit. 

Fabula  ad  regum  facta  pertinere  videtur.  Illi  enim 
ministros  ssevos  et  sanguinarios  et  exactores  primo  sup- 
pliciis  afficiunt,  et  a  rebus  summovent.  Postea  ex 
consilio  Telluris,  id  est,  ignobili  et  parum  honorifico, 
praevalente  utilitate  eos  rursus  adhibent,  sicubi  aut  exe- 
cutionum  severitate  aut  exactionum  acerbitate  opus  est. 
Illi  natura  truces,  et  ex  priore  fortuna  exasperati,  et 
satis  sentientes  quid  ab  illis  expectetur,  miram  dili- 
gentiam  in  hujusmodi  rebus  praestant ;  sed  parum  cauti, 
et  ad  gratiam  ineundam  et  aucupandam  praecipites, 
aliquando  ex  secretis  principum  nutibus  et  incertis 
mandatis  invidiosam  aliquam  executionem  peragunt. 
Principes  autem  invidiam  declinantes,  et  satis  gnari 
hujusmodi  instrumenta  nunquam  sibi  defutura,  eos 
destituunt :  et  propinquis  et  amicis  eorum  qui  pcenas 
subierunt  atque  horum  delationibus  et  vindictae  et 
odio  populari  eos  relinquunt,  unde  magno  plausu,  et  ^ 
prosperis  in  reges  votis  et  acclamationibus,  sero  magis 
quam  immerito  pereunt. 

lea;.    Ed.  1609. 


438  DE  SAPIENTIA  VETERUM. 

IV. 

NARCISSUS, 

8IVE     PHILAUTIA. 

Narcissus  fuisse  traditur  forma  et  venustate  mirabi- 
lis,  sed  suberat  superbia  ingens,  et  fastidium  intoleran- 
dum.  Itaque  cum  sibi  placeret,  alios  despiceret,  vitam 
egit  solltariam  in  sylvis  et  venationibus,  cum  paucis 
comitibus,  quibus  ipse  omnia  erat.  Assectabatur  etiam 
eum  ubique  n;yTiipha  Echo.  In  hoc  vitae  instituto  fatale 
ei  erat  ad  fontem  quendam  limpidum  venire,  et  juxta 
eum  sub  aestum  mediae  diei  decumbere.  Cum  autem 
in  aqua  imaginem  propriam  aspexisset,  in  contempla- 
tionem  sui,  ac  deinde  in  admirationem  efFusus  et  raptus, 
nullo  modo  ab  hujusmodi  spectro  et  simulacro  distrahi 
poterat ;  sed  perpetuo  defixus  obtorpuit ;  ac  tandem  in 
florem  nominis  sui  con  versus  est ;  qui  flos  ineunte  vere 
se  ostendit,  et  diis  inferis,  Plutoni,  Proserpinae,  et  Eu- 
menidibus  sacer  est. 

Fabula  illorum  et  ingenia  et  fortunas  repraesentare 
videtur,  qui  sive  ob  formam  sive  ob  aliqua  salias  dotes 
quibus  ab  ipsa  natura,  nulla  accedente  industria  propria, 
ornati  et  insigniti  sunt,  effuse  seipsos  amant,  et  quasi 
depereunt.  Cum  hoc  enim  animi  statu  conjunctum 
fere  est,  ut  non  multum  in  publico,  aut  in  rebus  civili- 
bus  versentur ;  cum  in  eo  vitas  genere  necesse  sit  occur- 
rere  multos  neglectus  et  vilipendia,  quae  animos  eorum 
dejicere  et  turbare  possint.  Itaque  vitam  plerunque 
degunt  solitariam  et  privatam  et  umbratilem,  cum  per- 
pauco  comitum  delectu,  eoque  ex  iis  qui  illos  magnopere 
colere  et  admirari  videntur,  quique  illis  veluti  echo  in 


DE   SAPIENTIA  VETERUM.  439 

omnibus  dictis  suis  assentantur,  et  verborum  obsequia 
prsestant.  Ex  hac  consuetudine  depravatos  et  inflatos, 
et  tandem  admlratlone  sui  ipsius  attonitos,  mira  occupat 
desidia  et  inertia,  ut  prorsus  torpeant,  et  omni  vigore  et 
alacritate  destituantur.  Eleganter  autem  sumitur  flos 
vemus  ad  hujusmodi  ingeniorum  similitudinem,  cum 
ilia  ingenia  sub  initia  sua  floreant  et  celebrentur,  sed 
aBtate  confirmata  expectationem  de  iis  conceptam  des- 
tituant  et  frustrentur.  Eodem  pertinet,  quod  flos  ille 
diis  inferis  sacer  sit ;  quia  homines  talis  indolis  ad  om- 
nia inutiles  prorsus  evadunt.  Quicquid  autem  nullum 
ex  se  fructum  edit,  sed  (veluti  via  navis  in  mari)  tran- 
sit et  labitur,  id  apud  antiquos  umbris  et  diis  inferis 
consecrari  solebat. 


V. 

STYX, 


SIVE     FCEDERA. 


Peevulgata  est  narratio,  et  in  compluribus  fabulis 
interponitur,  de  unico  illo  juramento,  quo  dii  superi  se 
obstringere  solebant,  cum  poenitentiae  locum  sibi  nullo 
modo  relinqui  volebant.  Illud  juramentum  nullam 
majestatem  coelestem,  nullum  attributum  divinum  ad- 
vocabat  et  testabatur;  sed  Stygem,  fluvium  quendam 
apud  inferos,  qui  atria  Ditis,  multis  spiris  interfusus, 
cingebat.  Haec  enim  formula  sacramenti  sola,  neque 
praeter  eam  alia  qusepiam,  firma  habita  est  et  inviolab- 
ilis  :  scilicet  incumbebat  poena  perjurii,  diis  imprimis 
metuenda,  ut  qui  fefellisset  ad  deorum  convivia  per 
certa  annorum  spatia  non  accederet. 


440 


DE  SAPIENTIA  VETERUM. 


Fabula  de  foederibus  et  pactis  principum  conficta 
videtur :  in  quibus  illud  nimio  plus  quam  oporteret 
verum  est,  foedera  quacunque  solennitate  et  religione 
juramenti  munita  parum  firma  esse ;  adeo  ut  fere  ad 
existimationem  quandam  et  famam  et  ceremoniam,  ma- 
gls  quam  ad  fidem  et  securitatem  et  efFectum  adhibean- 
tur.  Quin  si  accesserint  etiam  affinitatis  vincla,  veluti 
Sacramenta  Naturae,  si  merita  mutua,  tamen  omnia  in- 
fra ambitionem  et  utilitatem  et  dominationis  licentiam 
esse  apud  plerosque  reperiuntur.  Tanto  magis,  quod 
principibus  facile  sit  per  prsetextus  varios  et  speciosos 
cupiditates  suas  et  fidem  minus  sinceram  (nemine  re- 
rum  arbitro,  cui  ratio  sit  reddenda)  tueri  et  velare. 
Itaque  unum  assumitur  verum  et  proprium  fidei  firma- 
mentum,  neque  illud  divinitas  aliqua  coelestis  :  ea  est 
Necessitas  (magnum  potentibus  numen),  et  periculum 
status,  et  communicatio  utilitatis.  Necessitas  autem 
per  Stygem  eleganter  repraesentatur,  flumen  fatale  et 
irremeabile.  Atque  hoc  numen  advocavit  ad  foedera 
Iphicrates  Atheniensis,  qui  quoniam  inventus  est  qui  ea 
aperte  loqueretur  quae  plerique  tacite  animo  volvunt, 
non  abs  re  sit  ipsius  verba  referre.  Is  cum  Lacedaemo- 
nios  varias  cautiones  et  sanctiones  et  foederum  firmamen- 
ta  et  vincula  excogitare  et  proponere  animadverteret, 
interfatus  :  Unum  (inquit)  Lacedcemonii,,  nobis  vobis- 
cum  vinculum  et  securitatis  ratio  esse  possit,  si  plane 
demonstretis,  vos  ea  nobis  coneesdsse  et  inter  manus  pos- 
uisse^  ut  vohis  facultas  Icedendi  nos,  si  maxime  velletis, 
minime  suppetere  possit.  Itaque  si  facultas  laedendi 
sublata  sit,  aut  si  ex  foedere  rupto  periculum  ingruat 
perditionis  aut  diminutionis  status  aut  vectigalium,  tum 
demum  foedera  rata  et  sancta  et  tanquam  juramento 
Stygis  confirmata  censeri  possint:    cum  metus  subsit 


DE   SAPIENTIA  VETERUM.  441 

interdict!  illius  et  suspensionis  a  conviviis  deorum  ;  sub 
quo  nomine  imperii  jura  et  praerogativae  et  affluentia  et 
felicitas  antiquis  significantur. 


VI. 

PAN, 

SIVE     NATURA. 


Antiqui  universam  naturam  sub  persona  Panis  diK- 
Fabuiahffic    geutissime  descripserunt.      Hujus  generatio- 

invenitur,  in  .,,.  ,.  *!••• 

libro  secundo  nem  lu  QUDio  relmquunt.     Alu  enim  asserunt 

De  Augmentis  -.^  .  .  t«     i  t 

scientiarum,  eum  a  Mercurio  genitum ;  aln  longe  aliam 
pietata.  geuerationis  formam  ei  tribuunt ;  aiunt  enim 
procos  universos  cum  Penelope  rem  habuisse,  ex  quo 
promiscuo  concubitu  Pana  communem  filium  ortum 
esse.  Atque  in  hac  posteriore  narratione,  proculdubio, 
aliqui  ex  recentioribus  veteri  fabulae  nomen  Penelopes 
imposuere,  quod  et  frequenter  faciunt,  cum  narrationes 
antiquiores  ad  personas  et  nomina  juniora  traducunt, 
idque  quandoque  absurde  et  insulse ;  ut  hie  cernere  est ; 
cum  Pan  ex  antiquissimis  diis,  et  longe  ante  tempora 
Ulyssis  fuerit,  atque  insuper  Penelope  ob  matronalem 
castitatem  antiquitati  venerabilis  haberetur.  Neque 
pragtermittenda  est  tertia  ilia  generationis  explicatio : 
quidam  enim  prodiderunt  eum  Jovis  et  Hybreos,  id 
est,  Contumeliae,  filium  fuisse.  Utcunque  orto,  Parcae 
illi  sorores  fuisse  perhibentur.  Effigies  autem  Panis 
talis  ab  antiquitate  describitur :  cornutus,  cornibus  us- 
que ad  coelum  fastigiatis,  corpore  toto  hispidus  et  villo- 
sus,  barba  imprimis  promissa.  Figura  biformis,  huma- 
na  quoad  superiora,  sed  semifera,   et  in   caprae  pedes 


desinens.  Gestabat  autem  insignia  potestatis,  sinistra 
fistulam,  ex  septem  calamis  compactam ;  dextra  pedum, 
sive  lignum  superius  curvum  et  inflexum ;  induebati 
autem  chlamyde  ex  pelle  pardalis.  Potestates  ei 
munera  hujusmodi  attribuuntur,  ut  sit  deus  venatorum,'' 
etiam  pastorum,  et  in  universum  ruricolarum ;  prseses 
item  montium  :  erat  etiam  proximus  Mercurio  nuncius 
deorum.  Habebatur  insuper  dux  et  imperator  nym- 
pharum,  quae  circa  eum  pei-petuo  choreas  ducere  et 
tripudiare  solebant  ;  comitabantur  et  Satyri,  et  his 
seniores  Sileni.  Habebat  etiam  potestatem  terrores 
immittendi,  praesertim  inanes  et  superstitiosos,  qui  et 
Panici  vocati  sunt.  '  Res  gestae  autem  ejus  non  muhae 
memorantur :  illud  praecipuum,  quod  Cupidinem  prov- 
ocavit  ad  luctam,  a  quo  etiam  in  certamine  victus  est. 
Etiam  Typhonem  gigantem  retibus  implicavit  et  cohib- 
uit ;  atque  narrant  insuper,  cum  Ceres  moesta  et  ob 
raptam  Proserpinam  indignata  se  abscondisset,  atque 
dii  omnes  ad  eam  investigandam  magnopere  incubuis- 
sent,  et  se  per  varias  vias  dispertiti  essent ;  Pani  so- 
lummodo  ex  felicitate  quadam  contigisse,  ut  inter  ve- 
nandum  eam  inveniret  et  indicaret.  Ausus  est  quoque 
cum  Apolline  de  victoria  musices  decertare,  atque  eti- 
am Mida  judice  praelatus  est :  ob  quod  judicium  Midas 
asininas  aures  tulit,  sed  clam  et  secreto.  Amores  Panis 
nuUi  referuntur,  aut  saltern  admodum  rari,  quod  mirum 
inter  turbam  deorum  prorsus  tam  profuse  amatoriam 
videri  possit.  Illud  solummodo  ei  datur,  quod  Echo 
adamaret,  quae  etiam  uxor  ejus  habita  est,  atque  unam 
etiam  nympham,  Syringam  nomine,  in  quam  propter 
iram  et  vindictam  Cupidlnis  (quem  ad  luctam  provo- 
care  non  reveritus  esset)  incensus  est.  Neque  etiam 
prolem  ullam  suscepit  (quod  similiter  mirum  est,  cum 


DE   SAPIENTIA  VETERUM.  443 

dii  praBsertim  masculi  prolifici  admodum  essent)  nisi 
quod  ei  tribuatur  tanquam  filia,  muliercula  quaedam 
ancilla  larabe  nomine,  quae  ridiculis  narratiunculis 
oblectare  hospites  solebat,  ejusque  proles  ex  conjuge 
Echo  esse  a  nonnullis  existimabatur : 

Fabula  nobilis,  si  quae  alia,  atque  naturae  arcanis  et 
mysteriis  gravida,  et  quasi  distenta. 

Pan  (ut  et  nomen  ipsum  etiam  sonat)  Universitatem 
Rerum,  sive  Naturam,  repraesentat  et  proponit.  De 
hujus  origine  duplex  omnino  sententia  est ;  atque  adeo 
esse  potest :  aut  enim  a  Mercurio  est,  verbo  scilicet 
divino  (quod  et  sacrae  literae  extra  controversiam  po- 
nunt,  et  philosophis  iis  qui  magis  divini  habiti  sunt 
visum  est),  aut  ex  confusis  rerum  seminibus.  Qui 
enim  unum  rerum  principium  posuerunt,  aut  ad  Deum 
illud  retulerunt ;  aut  si  materiatum  principium  volunt, 
illud  tamen  potentia  varium  asseruerunt;  adeo  ut  omnis 
hujusmodi  controversia  ad  illam  distributionem  reduca- 
tur,  ut  mundus  sit  vel  a  Mercurio  vel  a  procis  omnibus. 

Namque  canebat  uti  magnum  per  inane  coacta 
Semina  terrarumque  animaeque  marisque  fuissent 
Et  liquidi  siraul  ignis,  et  his  exordia  primis 
Omnia,  et  ipse  tener  mundi  concreverit  orbis. 

Tertia  autem  generatio  Panis  ejusmodi  est,  ut  vide- 
antur  Graeci  aliquid  de  Hebraeorum  mysteriis,  vel  per 
^gyptios  internuncios  vel  utcunque  inaudivisse  ;  per- 
tinet  enim  ad  statum  mundi  non  in  meris  natalibus 
suis,  sed  post  lapsum  Adami,  morti  et  corruption!  ex- 
positum  et  obnoxium  factum.  Ille  enim  status  Dei  et 
peccati  proles  fuit,  ac  manet.  Itaque  triplex  ista  nar- 
ratio  de  generatione  Panis  etiam  vera  videri  possit,  si 
rite  et  rebus  et  temporibus  distinguatur ;  nam  iste  Pan, 
quem  intuemur  et  contemplamur,  ac  nimio  plus  quam 


444 


DE   SAPIENTIA  VETERUM. 


oportet  coHmus,  ex  verbo  divino,  mediante  confas 
materia  (quae  et  ipsa  a  Deo  creata  erat),^  et  subin- 
trante  praevaricatione  et  corniptione,  ortum  habet.  Na- 
turae rerum,  Fata  rerum  sorores  vere  perbibentUr  et 
ponuntur ;  naturalium  siquidem  causarum  catenae  ortus 
rerum,  et  durationes,  et  interitus,  et  depressiones,  et 
eminentias,  et  labores,  et  felicitates,  et  fata  denique 
omnia  quae  rebus  accidere  possunt,  trabunt.  Cornua 
autem  mundo  attribuuntur.  Quod  vero  cornua  hu- 
jusmodi  ab  imo  latiora,  ad  verticem  acuta  sint ;  id  eo 
spectat,  quod  omnis  rerum  natura  instar  pyramidis 
acuta  sit :  ^  individua  enim  infinita  sunt ;  ea  colliguntur 
in  species  et  ipsas  multiplices ;  species  rursus  insurgunt 
in  genera  ;  atque  haec  quoque  ascendendo  in  magis 
generalia  contrahuntur,  ut  tandem  natura  tanquam  in 
unum  coire  videatur.  Neque  mirum  est  Panis  cornua 
etiam  coelum  ferire  ;  cum  summitates  naturae  sive  ideae 
universales  etiam  ad  divina  quodammodo  pertingant. 
Paratus  enim  et  propinquus  est  transitus  a  metaphysica 
ad  tbeologiam  naturalem.  Corpus  autem  naturae  el- 
egantissime  et  verissime  depingitur  hirsutum,  propter 
rerum  radios ;  radii  enim  sunt  tanquam  naturae  crines, 
sive  villi,  atque  omnia  fere  vel  magis  vel  minus  radiosa 
sunt ;  quod  in  facultate  visus  manifestissimum  est,  nee 
minus  in  omni  virtute  et  operatione  ad  distans ;  quic- 
quid  enim  operatur  ad  distans,  id  etiam  radios  emittere 
recte  dici  potest ;  sed  maxime  omnium  prominet  barba 
Panis,  quia  radii  corporum  coelestium  maxime  ex  lon- 
ginquo  operantur  et  penetrant.  Quin  et  sol,  quando 
parte  superiore  ejus  nube  obvoluta  radii  inferius  erum- 

1  The  words  within  the  parenthesis  are  not  in  Ed.  1609. 

2  In  Ed.  1609  this  sentence  stood  thus :  Cornua  autem  Mundo  attribuun- 
tur; quod  Cornua  hujv^modi  ab  imo  latiora,  ad  verticem  acuta  sint :  Omnis 
enim  rerum  natura  instar  Pyramidis  acuta  est. 


DE  SAPIENTIA  VETERUM.  445 

punt,  ad  aspectum  barbatus  cernitur.  Etiam  corpus 
naturae  rectissime  describitur  biforme,  ob  difFerentiam 
corporum  superiorum  et  inferiorum.  Ilia  enim  ob 
pulchritudinem  et  motus  sequabilitatem  et  constantiam, 
necnon  imperium  in  terram  et  terrestria,  merito  sub 
humana  figura  reprsesentantur :  baec  autem  ob  pertur- 
bationem  et  motus  incompositos,  et  quod  a  coelestibus 
regantur,  bruti  animalis  figura  contenta  esse  possunt. 
Eadem  corporis  descriptio  pertinet  ad  participationem 
specierum.  Nulla  enim  natura  simplex  videri  potest, 
sed  tanquam  ex  duobus  participans  et  concreta.  Habet 
enim  homo  nonnihil  ex  bruto,  brutum  nonnihil  ex  plan- 
ta,  planta  nonnihil  ex  corpore  inanimato,  omniaque 
revera  biformia  sunt,  et  ex  specie  superiore  et  inferiore 
compacta.  Acutissima  autem  est  allegoria  de  pedibus 
caprse,  propter  motum  ascensionis  corporum  terrestrium 
versus  regiones  aeris  et  coeli  :  capra  enim  animal  scan- 
sorium  est,  eaque  e  rupibus  pendere  atque  in  prsecipit- 
iis  haerere  amat ;  quod  etiam  res  licet  inferiori  globo 
destinatae  miris  modis  faciunt,  ut  in  nubibus  et  meteoris 
manifestissimum  est.  Insignia  autem  in  manibus  Panis 
duplicia.  Alterum  harmoniae,  alterum  imperii.  Fis- 
tula enim  ex  septem  calamis  concentum  rerum  et  har- 
moniam,  sive  concordiam  cum  discordia  mistam,  quae 
ex  septem  stellarum  errantium  motu  conficitur,  evi- 
denter  ostendit.  Pedum  autem  illud  etiam  nobilis 
translatio  est;  propter  vias  naturae  partim  rectas,  partim 
obliquas.  Praecipue  autem  lignum,  sive  virga,  versus 
superiorem  partem  curva  est :  quia  omnia  providentiae 
divinae  opera  in  mundo  fere  per  ambages  et  circuitus 
fiunt;  ut  aliud  agi  videri  possit,  aliud  interim  revera 
agatur  ;  ut  Josephi  venditio  in  ^gyptum,  et  similia. 
Quinetiam  in  regimine  humano  omni  prudentiore,  qui 


446 


DE  SAPIENTIA  VETERUM. 


ad  gubernacula  sedent,  populo  convenientia  per  pra&- 
textus  et  vias  obliquas  felicius  quae  volunt,  quam  ex 
directo,  superinducunt  et  insinuant ;  adeo  ut  omnis 
imperii  virga  sive  bacillum  vere  superius  inflexum  sit. 
Vestis  Panis  et  amiculum  ingeniose  admodum  ex  pelle 
pardalis  fuisse  fingitur ;  propter  maculas  ubique  spar- 
sas ;  coelum  enim  stellis,  maria  insulis,  tellus  floribus 
consperguntur ;  atque  etiam  res  particulares  fere  varie- 
gatae  esse  solent  circa  superficiem,  quae  veluti  rei  chla- 
mys  est.  Officium  autem  Panis  nulla  alia  re  tarn  ad 
vivum  proponi  atque  explicari  potuerit,  quam  ut  Deus 
venatorum  sit.  Omnis  enim  naturalis  actio,  atque 
adeo  motus  et  processus,  nihil  aliud  quam  venatio  est. 
Nam  et  scientiae  et  artes  opera  sua  venantur,  et  con- 
cilia humana  fines  suos,  atque  res  naturales  omnes  vel 
alimenta  sua  tanquam  praedam,  vel  voluptates  suas  tan- 
quam  solatium,  venantur,  idque  modis  peritis  et  saga- 
cibus. 

Torva  lesena  lupum  sequitur,  lupus  ipse  capellam, 
Florentem  cytisum  sequitur  lasciva  capella. 

Etiam  ruricolarum  in  genere  Pan  deus  est,  quia  hu- 
jusmodi  homines  magis  secundum  naturam  vivant, 
cum  in  urbibus  et  aulis  natura  a  cultu  nimio  corrum- 
patur  ;  ut  illud  poetae  amatorium  verum  sit ; 

Pars  minima  est  ipsa  puella  sui. 

Montium  autem  imprimis  praeses  dicitur  Pan,  quia  in 
montibus  et  locis  editis  natura  rerum  panditur,  atque 
oculis  et  contemplationi  magis  subjicitur.  Quod  alter  a 
Mercurio  deorum  nuncius  sit  Pan,  ea  allegoria  plane  di- 
vina  est,  cum  proxime  post  verbum  Dei,  ipsa  mundi  im- 
ago divinae  potentiae  et  sapientiae  praeconium  sit.  Quod 
et  poeta  divinus  cecinit :  Coeli  enarrant  gloriam  Dei,  at- 
que opera  manuum  ejus  indicat  Jirmamentum.    Pana  au- 


DE  SAPIENTIA  VETERUM.  447 

tern  oblectant  nymphae ;  animae  scilicet ;  deliciae  enim 
mundi,  animae  viventium  sunt :  ille  autem  merito  earum 
imperator,  cum  illae  naturam  quaeque  suam  veluti  ducem 
sequantur,  et  circa  eam  cum  infinita  varietate,  veluti 
singulae  more  patrio,  saltent  et  choreas  ducant,  motu 
neutiquam  cessante  :  una  perpetuo  comitantur  Satyri 
et  Sileni ;  senectus  scilicet  et  juventus ;  omnium  enim 
rerum  est  aetas  quaedam  hilaris  et  saltatrix ;  atque 
rursus  aetas  tarda  et  bibula :  utriusque  autem  aetatis 
studia  vere  contemplanti  (tanquam  Democrito)  for- 
tasse  ridicula  et  deformia  videntur,  instar  Satyri  alicu- 
jus  aut  Sileni.  De  Panicis  autem  terroribus  pruden- 
tissima  doctrina  proponitur:  natura  enim  rerum  om- 
nibus viventibus  indidit  metum  ac  formidinem,  vitae 
atque  essenti^e  suae  conservatricem,  ac  mala  ingruen- 
tia  vitantem  et  depellentem  :  veruntamen  eadem  na- 
tura modum  tenere  nescia  est ;  sed  timoribus  salutari- 
bus  semper  vanos  et  inanes  admiscet,  adeo  ut  omnia 
(si  intus  conspici  darentur)  Panicis  terroribus  plenis- 
sima  sint ;  praesertim  humana,  quae  superstitione  (quae 
vere  nihil  aliud  quam  Panicus  terror  est)  in  imm en- 
sum  laborant ;  maxime  temporibus  duris  et  trepidis 
et  adversis.  Quod  vero  attinet  ad  audaciam  Panis, 
et  pugnam  per  provocationem  cum  Cupidine ;  id  eo 
spectat,  quia  materia  non  caret  inclinatione  et  appetitu 
ad  dissolutionem  mundi  et  redicivationem  in  illud 
Chaos  antiquum,  nisi  praevalida  rerum  concordia  (per 
Amorem  sive  Cupidinem  significata)  malitia  et  im- 
petus ejus  cohiberetur  et  in  ordinem  compelleretur : 
itaque  bono  admodum  hominum  et  rerum  fato  fit,  ut 
illud  certamen  Pan  adversum  experiatur,  et  victus 
abscedat.  Eodem  prorsus  pertinet  et  illud  de  Ty- 
phone  in  retibus  implicato  ;  quia  utcunque  aliquando 


448 


DE  SAPIENTIA  VETERUM. 


vasti  et  insoliti  rerum  tumores  sint  (id  quod  Typhon 
soiiat)  sive   intumescant  maria,  sive  intumescant   nu- 
bes,    sive   intumescat   terra,  sive   alia,   tamen    Reruni| 
Natura  hujusmodi  corporum  exuperantias   atque  ins( 
lentias  reti  inextricabili  implicat  et  coercet,  et  veluti 
catena   adamantina    devincit.     Quod    autem    inventio 
Cereris  huic  deo  attribuitur,  idque  inter  venationem  ; 
reliquis  diis  negatur,  licet  sedulo  quserentibus  et  illudj 
ipsum    agentibus;    monitum    habet   verum    admodumi 
et  prudens  ;  hoc  est,  ne  rerum  utilium  ad  vitam   etl 
cultum   inventio,   qualis  fuit    segetum,^   a  philosophiis 
abstractis,  tanquam    diis   majoribus,    expectetur.   Heel 
totis  viribus  in  illud  ipsum   incumbant;    sed  tantum-1 
modo  a  Pane,  id  est,  experientia  sagaci  et  rerum  mundi 
notitia   universali,  quae  etiam  casu    quodam  ac  veluti 
inter  venandum  in  hujusmodi   inventa  incidere  solet. 
Illud  autem  musices  certamen,  ejusque  eventus,  salu- 
tarem   exhibet  doctrinam,  atque    eam  quae  rationi  et 
judicio  humano  gestienti  et  se  efFerenti  sobrietatis  vin- 
cula  injicere  possit.     Duplex  enim  videtur  esse  Har-^ 
monia   et   quasi   musica :    altera    providentise   divinae, 
altera   rationis   humanse.      Judicio    enim   humano,  aCj 
veluti  auribus  mortalium,  administratio  mundi  et  re-j 
rum,  et  judicia  divina  secretiora,  sonant  aliquid  durum! 
et  quasi  absonum :   qu£e  inscitia  licet  asininis  auribus 
merito  insigniatur,   tamen  et   ipsae  illae   aures  secrete 
nee  palam  gestantur  :  neque  enim  hujusce  rei  defor- 
mitas   a   vulgo   conspicitur    aut   notatur.      Postremo, 
minime  mirum  est  si  nulli  amores  Pani  attribuantur, 
praeter  conjugium  Echus  ;  mundus  enim  seipso,^  atque 
in  se  rebus   omnibus  fruitur :    qui   amat    autem,  fi-ui 

1  The  words  quale  fuit  segetum  are  not  in  Ed.  1609. 

2  se  ipse.    Ed.  1609. 


DE   SAPIENTIA  VETERUM.  449 

vult,  neque  in  copia  desiderio  locus  est.  Itaque  mun- 
di  amores  esse  imlli  possunt,  nee  potiendi  cupido,  cum 
seipso  ^  contentus  sit,  nisi  fortasse  sermones :  ii  sunt 
nympha,  Echo,  aut  si  accuratiores  sint,  Syringa.  In- 
ter sermones  autem,  sive  voces,  excellenter  ad  conju- 
gium  mundi  sumitur  sola  Echo  ;  ea  enim  demum  vera 
est  philosophia,  quae  mundi  ipsius  voces  fidelissime 
reddit,  et  veluti  dictante  mundo  conscripta  est;  et 
nihil  aliud  est  quam  ejusdem  simulacrum  et  reflexio, 
neque  addit  quicquam  de  proprio,  sed  tantum  iterat 
et  resonat.  Ad  mundi  etiam  sufficientiam  et  perfec- 
tionem  pertinet,  quod  prolem  non  edat.  Ille  enim  per 
partes  generat ;  per  totum  autem  quomodo  generare 
possit?  cum  corpus  extra  ipsum  non  sit.  Nam  de 
filia  ejus  putativa,  muliercula  ilia,  est  sane  ea  adjectio 
quaedam  ad  fabulam  sapientissima ;  per  illam  enim 
reprsesentantur  eae  quae  perpetuis  temporibus  passim 
vagantur,  atque  omnia  implent,  vaniloquae  de  rerum 
natura  doctrinae,  re  ipsa  infructuosae,  genere  quasi  sub- 
dititiae,  garrulitate  vero  interdum  jucundae,  interdum 
molestae  et  importunae. 


VII. 

PERSEUS, 


SIVE      BELLUM. 

Perseus  traditur  fuisse  a  Pallade  missus  ad  obtrun- 
Fabuiahaec  caudam  Mcdusam,  quae  populis  plurimis  ad 
libKTsecundo  occidcutem  in  extremis  Hiberiae  partibus 
sci^nSum)^  maximae  calamitati  fuit.  Monstrum  enim 
pSr.*^  ^^'^'^'  hoc    tam    dirum    atque    horrendum    fuit,    ut 

1  seipse.    Ed.  1609. 
VOL.  XII.  29 


450 


DE   SAPIENTIA  VETERUM. 


aspectu  solo  homines  in  saxa  verteret.  Erat  autem 
e  Gorgonibus  una  ac  sola  mortalis  Medusa  ;  cum 
passiv£e  reliquae  non  essent.  Itaque  Perseus  ad  tam 
nobile  facinus  se  comparans,  anna  ac  dona  a  tribus 
diis  accepit :  talares  alas  a  Mercurio,  a  Plutone  galeam, 
scutum  a  Pallade  et  speculum.  Neque  tamen,  licet 
tanto  apparatu  instructus,  ad  Medusam  recta  perrexit ; 
sed  primum  ad  Graeas  divertit :  eae  sorores  ex  altera 
parente  Gorgonibus  erant.  Atque  Graeae  istse  canae 
jam  a  nativitate  erant,  et  tanquam  vetulae.  Oculus 
autem  iis  tantummodo  et  dens  erat  omnibus  unicus ; 
quos  prout  exire  foras  quamque  contigerat ;  vicissim 
gestare,  reversae  autem  iterum  deponere  solebant :  hunc 
itaque  oculum  atque  hunc  dentem  illae  Perseo  com- 
modarunt.  Tum  demum  cum  se  abunde  ad  destinata 
perficienda  instructum  judicaret,  ad  Medusam  prope- 
ravit  impiger  et  volans.  Illam  autem  dormientem  of- 
fendit.  Neque  tamen  aspectui  ejus  (si  evigilaret)  se 
committere  audebat ;  sed  cervice  reflexa,  in  speculum 
Palladis  inspiciens,  atque  hoc  modo  ictus  dirigens,  caput 
ei  abscidit.  Ex  sanguine  autem  Medusae  fuso,  statim 
Pegasus  alatus  emicuit.  Caput  autem  abscissum  Per- 
seus in  scutum  Palladis  inseruit,  cui  etiamnum  sua 
mansit  vis,  ut  ad  ejus  intuitum  omnes  ceu  attoniti  aut 
siderati  obrigerent. 

Fabula  de  belligerandi  ratione  et  prudentia  conficta 
videtur.  Atque  in  ipsa  de  bello  suscipiendo  et  de 
gen  ere  belli  eligendo  deliberatione,  tria  proponit  prae- 
cepta  Sana  et  gravia,  tanquam  ex  consilio  Palladis. 
Primo,  ut  de  subjugatione  nationum  finitimarum  quTs 
non  admodum  laboret.  Neque  enim  eadem  est  patri- 
monii et  imperii  amplificandi  ratio.  Nam  in  posses- 
sionibus  privatis,  vicinitas  praediorum  spectatur  ;  sed  in 


DE   SAPIENTIA  VETERUM.  451 

propagando  imperio,  occasio,  et  belli  conficiendi  facilitas 
et  fructus,  loco  vicinitatis  esse  debent.^  Certe  Roma- 
ni,  quo  tempore  occidentem  versus  vix  ultra  Liguriam 
penetraverant,  orientis  provincias  usque  ad  montem 
Taurum  armis  et  imperio  complexi  sunt.  Itaque  Per- 
seus, licet  orientalis,  tamen  longinquam  expedition  em 
usque  ad  extrema  occidentis  minima  detrectavit.  Se- 
cundo,  curae  esse  debet,  ut  justa  et  honorifica  subsit 
belli  causa ;  id  enim  et  alacritatem  tum  militibus  tum 
populis  impensas  conferentibus  addit,  et  societates 
aperit  et  conciliat,  et  plurimas  denique  commoditates 
habet.  Nulla  autem  belli  causa  magis  pia  sit,  quam 
debellatio  tyrannidis,  sub  qua  populus  succumbit  et 
prosternitur  sine  animis  et  vigore,  tanquam  sub  aspectu 
Medusae.  Tertio,  prudenter  additur,  quod  cum  tres 
Gorgones  fiierint  (per  quas  bella  reprsesentantur),  Per- 
seus illam  delegerit  quae  fuerit  mortalis  ;  hoc  est,  bel- 
lum  ejus  conditionis  quod  confici  et  ad  exitum  perduci 
posset ;  nee  vastas  aut  infinitas  spes  persecutus  est. 
Instructio  autem  Persei  ea  est,  quae  ad  bellum  unice 
confert,  et  fortunam  fere  trahit.  Accepit  enim  celeri- 
tatem  a  Mercurio,  occultationem  consiliorum  ab  Oreo, 
et  providentiam  a  Pallade.  Neque  caret  allegoria, 
eaque  prudentissima,  quod  alae  illae  celeritatis  talares, 
non  axillares,  fuerint,  atque  pedibus  non  humeris  ad- 
ditae :  quia  non  tam  in  primis  belli  aggressibus,  quam 
in  eis  quae  sequuntur  et  primis  subsidio  sunt,  celeritas 
requiritur :  nullus  enim  error  in  bellis  magis  frequens 
est,  quam  quod  prosecutiones  et  subsidiarii  impetus 
initorum  alacritati  non  respondent.  Etiam  ilia  provi- 
denti^e  divisio  (nam  de  galea  Plutonis,  quae  homines 
invisibiles  reddere  solebat,  parabola  manifesta  est)  in- 

1  debet.    Ed.  1609. 


452 


DE  SAPIENTIA  VETERUM. 


geniosa  videtur,  de  scuto  et  speciilo ;  neque  enim  ea 
providentia  solum  adhibenda  est  quaB  cavet  instar  scuti, 
sed  ilia  altera  per  quam  hostium  vires  et  motus  et  con- 
silia  cemuntur,  instar  speculi  Palladis.  Verum  Perseo 
utcunque  copiis  aut  aniinis  instructo,  restat  aliud  quid- 
dam  maximi  per  omnia  moment!  antequam  incipiatur 
bellum,  nimirum  ut  divertat  ad  Graeas.  Grseae  autem 
proditiones  sunt ;  bellorum  scilicet  sorores,  non  germa- 
naB  illae  quidem,  sed  generis  nobilitate  quasi  impares. 
Bella  enim  generosa,  proditiones  degeneres  et  turpes. 
Earum  descriptio  elegans  est ;  ut  canaB  a  nativitate 
sint  et  tanquam  vetulae ;  propter  perpetuas  proditorum 
curas  et  trepidationes.  Earum  autem  vis  (antequam  in 
manifestam  defectionem  erumpant)  aut  in  oculo  aut  in 
dente  est.  Omnis  enim  factio  a  statu  quopiam  alienata, 
et  speculatur  et  mordet.  Atque  hujusmodi  oculus  et 
dens  tanquam  communis  est.  Nam  quae  didicerunt  et 
noverunt,  fere  per  manus  factionis  ab  uno  ad  alterum 
transeunt  et  percurrunt.  Et  quod  ad  dentem  attinet, 
uno  fere  ore  mordent,  et  similem  cantilenam  canunt,  ut 
si  unum  audias  omnes  audias.  Itaque  Perseo  concili- 
andae  sunt  istas  Graeae,  ut  oculum  et  dentem  ei  commo- 
dent :  oculum  ad  indicia,  dentem  ad  rumores  serendos, 
et  invidiam  conflandam,  et  animos  hominum  sollicitan- 
dos.  His  itaque  dispositis  et  praeparatis,  sequitur  ipsa 
belli  actio.  In  ea  Medusam  dormientem  invenit.  Pru- 
dens  enim  belli  susceptor  semper  fere  hostem  assequitur 
imparatum  et  securitati  propiorem.  Atque  nunc  tan- 
dem speculo  Palladis  opus  est ;  plurimi  enim  ante  ipsa 
pericula  res  hostium  acute  et  attente  introspicere  pos- 
sunt ;  sed  in  ipso  periculi  articulo  praecipuus  est  usus 
speculi,  ut  modus  periculi  cematur,  terror  non  offun- 
datur  :    (quod   per   ilium  intuitum  capite  averso  sig- 


DE  SAPIENTIA  VETERUM.  453 

nificatur).  A  bello  perfecto  sequuntur  efFecta  duo : 
primum  Pegasi  ilia  generatio  et  exsuscitatio,  quae  satis 
evidenter  Famam  denotat,  quae  per  omnia  vol  at  et  vic- 
toriam  celebrat :  secundum,  gestatio  capitis  Medusae  in 
scuto  ;  siquidem  nullum  praesidii  genus  huic  ob  prae- 
stantiam  comparari  possit.  Unicum  enim  facinus  in- 
signe  et  memorabile,  feliciter  gestum  et  perpetratum, 
omnes  inimicorura  motus  cohibet,  atque  malevolentiam 
ipsam  stupidam  reddit. 


VIII. 
ENDYMION, 

81 VE      GRATIOSUS. 

Pastor  Endymion  traditur  a  Luna  fuisse  adamatus  : 
novum  autem  et  singulare  erat  consuetudinis  genus, 
siquidem  ille  decumbebat  in  nativa  quadam  specu,  sub 
saxis  Latmiis ;  Luna  autem  baud  raro  de  coelo  perhi- 
betur  descendisse,  et  sopiti  oscula  petiisse,  ac  rursus  in 
coelum  se  recepisse.  Neque  tamen  otium  istud  et  som- 
nus  in  detrimentum  fortunarum  ejus  cedebat.  Sed 
Luna  interim  efFecit,  ut  pecus  ejus  pinguesceret  admo- 
dum,  ac  numero  etiam  felicissime  auctum  esset,  ut  nulli 
pastorum  greges  essent  laetiores  aut  numerosiores. 

Fabula  ad  ingenia  et  mores  principum  pertinere  vi- 
detur.  Illi  enim  cogitationum  pleni  et  in  suspiciones 
propensi,  non  facile  ad  consuetudinem  vitae  interiorem 
recipiunt  homines  qui  sunt  perspicaces  et  curiosi,  et 
quasi  animo  vigilantes,  sive  exsomnes ;  sed  potius  eos 
qui  ingenio  sunt  quieto  et  morigero,  et  quod  placitum 
est  illis  patiuntur  et  nil  ultra  inquirunt,  sed  se  veluti 


454  DE  SAPIENTIA  VETERUM. 

ignaros  et  nil  sentientes  et  quasi  sopitos  praebent ; 
denique  magis  obsequium  simplex  quam  observantiam 
callidam  praestant.  Etenim  cum  hujusmodi  hominibus 
principes  de  majestate  sua,  veluti  Luna  de  orbe  supe- 
riore,  descendere,  et  personam  (quam  perpetuo  gerere 
instar  oneris  cujusdam  sit)  deponere,  et  familiariter 
versari,  libenter  consueverunt ;  idque  se  tuto  facere 
posse  putant.  Id  quod  in  Tiberio  Csesare,  principe 
omnium  maxime  difficili,  praecipue  annotatum  fuit : 
apud  quem  illi  solummodo  gratiosi  erant,  qui  notitiam 
morum  ejus  revera  habebant,  sed  pertinaciter  et  quasi 
stupide  dissimulabant.  Quod  etiam  Ludovico  undeci- 
mo  Francorum  regi,  principi  cautissimo  et  callidissimo, 
in  moribus  erat.  Neque  ineleganter  in  fabula  ponitur 
antrum  illud  Endymionis  :  quia  fere  usitatum  est  illis 
qui  hujusmodi  gratia  apud  principes  florent,  habere  suc- 
cessus  aliquos  amoenos,  quo  illos  invitent  ad  otium  et 
animi  remissionem,  absque  fortunae  suae  mole.  Qui 
autem  in  hoc  genere  gratiosi  sunt,  plerumque  rem 
suam  bene  agunt.  Nam  principes  licet  fortasse  ad 
honores  eos  non  evehant,  tamen  cum  vero  afFectu  nee 
propter  utilitatem  tantum  illos  diligant,  munificentia 
sua  eos  ditare  consueverunt. 


END   OF   VOL.   XH. 


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